Safekeeping
by EndlessStorm
Summary: When May is assaulted, she is left with injuries and emotional scars that she doesn't know how to deal with on her own. She turns to the one person she's always been able to trust for help, but now finds it hard to trust at all. Steven/May. HoennChampionShipping. Hurt/Comfort.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Long time no see... see a Pokemon fic (or any fic, really) from me, that is. I got the idea for this last night and I got it out quicker than I've ever written any other fic. I'm expecting this to be probably around 25,000 words (10 chapters at ~2.5k words each). That may vary. **

**This was inspired by ORAS coming out, obviously. There will definitely be some elements in this story that are from ORAS and may not have been in the original games. Oh, and for the sake of the story, we're going to assume that May was around 16 when she started her Pokemon journey and that Steven was around 19, so in this fic they're about 18-19 and 21-22, respectively. **

**Trigger warnings for rape/assault (implied by not graphically described), depression, anxiety and panic attacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This is some obvious Hurt/Comfort shit right here. On that lovely note, I hope you enjoy! **

* * *

><p>Lilycove comes alive at night. The lights of the department store shine throughout the whole city, reflecting on the water and giving an air of magic on even the coolest, windiest nights. The city where the land ends and the sea begins.<p>

Tonight, it is the city where May's life ends and her worst nightmare begins.

A cough. A whimper. An attempt to pull herself up, fingers scraping at the cold wall and prying as if there was something to hold on to. A desperate cry for help, for someone to reach her and just fucking _help_, help her bring herself to her feet and help her forget what happened and help her wash away the feeling of his fingertips bruising her hips and-

Her fingers slip, and everything goes black.

* * *

><p>Flash back hours earlier. May lounged on her couch, Skitty on the arm rest and purring against May's arm. It was late Saturday night, and May was living the life of a former champion- getting to spend as much time as she wanted lazing about and never really having to worry about working. She could live off of her championship money forever.<p>

Despite this, she found it in her best interest to get a small apartment in the mostly-uninhabited part of Lilycove. It was close enough to Mossdeep that it would only be a quick flight over to Steven's house, and it took her out of the spotlight. It had only been about a week since she moved here, so the cameras hadn't yet found her. It was only a matter of time, though. Once you became a champion, you never went back to a normal life. Steven had tried, and he was still bombarded with interviews and paparazzi (being the son of the CEO of Devon Corp. didn't really help much, either).

May liked her new apartment. It was quaint. Humble. It gave her an excuse to disappear for awhile, focus on unpacking and decorating and all the things that people with new homes do. It gave her an excuse to stop battling for awhile.

When did it start to feel like each battle took something out of her?

A commercial for a new kind of chips came on the TV. Skitty mewled. May glanced over at it, and then back at the TV. Her stomach growled. She considered getting up to raid the kitchen, but knew it wouldn't yield much- she had been so busy unpacking boxes all week (and yet they were still piled up) that she had been living off of takeout and hadn't really had the chance to go to the grocery store.

Skitty mewled again. "Whaaaaaaat?" May groaned, rolling onto her back and pulling the cat Pokemon onto her lap. Skitty meowed and bounced, throwing its head towards the TV where the chip commercial still played. "You want food?" The Pokemon bobbed its head. May sighed. "Yeah, I could probably afford to pick up more PokeBlock, too." She glanced over at her Pokeballs on the counter. Mightyena, Blaziken, Latios, Gardevoir, Salamance. Most of them had been stuck in their Pokeballs for days. She hadn't left her apartment for days and there wasn't really enough room around to let them out just yet.

May pulled herself up from the couch and walked to the bathroom. She eyed herself in the mirror as she tugged a brush through her hair, cringing as it caught in the tangles. She didn't wear her hair in pigtails anymore; as a champion she had been expected to be mature and presentable, and the pigtails seemed a bit childish. Even after starting her temporary leave of absence from the position, the trend hadn't resumed.

The circles under her eyes were darker than they'd been in a while. When had she last slept?

She exchanged her sweatpants for some cut-off shorts, since it was pretty warm out. She left the same camisole tank top on, but pulled on a bra under it just for the sake of looking semi-presentable. She was just going down to the 24-hour corner convenience store. It wasn't like she'd see anybody she knows.

Skitty dashed around May's feet and mewled as she walked to the door and pulled on her boots. "Yeah, yeah, I know, hush," May said quietly, feigning annoyance but smiling all the same.

She glanced at her Pokeballs on the counter. Five there, and Skitty's somewhere farther into the apartment. She'd take them, but she didn't have any pockets nor did she feel like searching through the few boxes left to find a belt where she could clip them on. She was just going down the street. She'd be gone ten minutes, tops. It was fine to go without them this once. It'd be fine.

May grabbed her wallet and keys and shut the door to the sounds of Skitty's cries.

* * *

><p>Despite her searching, May couldn't find the chips that she had seen advertised. Oh well. She did manage to stuff two other kinds of chips, a few bags of PokeBlock, some instant Ramen noodle cups, and a six-pack of Mountain Dew into a couple of shopping bags. Not the healthiest of choices, but she could always go and do some real grocery shopping tomorrow. This was good enough for now. Now she could make her way home, get something to eat, and maybe get some sleep.<p>

Or she should have been able to, except for that damn Poochyena. Just as May was walking by an alley, her apartment building in sight, the puppy Pokemon ran out, tangling up in May's legs and causing her to drop her bags. She swore quietly as the Pokemon ran off, yelping, and May's food- and the keys to her apartment- scattered.

She was just about to retrieve the last cup of instant Ramen when she heard heavy breathing behind her. Her hand froze, inches away from the cup.

"Hello, beautiful," a voice slurred. May's blood ran cold. Where were those keys? It was too dark to see anything- the street lamps overhead were dim.

_Don't be scared,_ May told herself. _It's fine. It's just a guy. He's drunk. You're fine. Get up. Make yourself bigger than him._

She rose to her feet and tried to stop her hand from quivering. She feigned a smile at the guy- she had gotten very good at that in the past year of her championship.

Her was tall- a lot taller than her, at a short 5'4". He had greasy blonde hair and wore a leather jacket over a tattered flannel shirt. She could smell the alcohol on his breath from several feet away. His eyes were glazed over and the smile on his face was unsettling.

"Hi, um," May stuttered. She pointed over her shoulder. "My apartment is, um, right there, so I'm just going to... to grab my groceries and leave..." Keys, keys. Where were they? Wasn't that what they taught young girls to do? Always keep your keys between your knuckles? Oh, and don't walk alone on poorly-lit streets late at night?

"What's the rush?" the guy asked, smiling even wider. It was open-mouthed, now, and May could see his yellowing teeth. "You could spend some time with me instead."

May's heart fluttered, and she tried to subtlety feel around with her foot for her keys. "I-I would, but I really need to get home to my Pokemon-"

"I had Pokemon once." The man's voice seemed to drop an octave and get much colder. "I had a wife once, too, but then she left me. She left me just like you're trying to leave and you don't even _know_ me to know how fucked up I am." He laughed bitterly and took a step towards May. The former champion took a step back.

Could she make it if she ran? Maybe. The guy was drunk, after all. But he was still a good foot taller than her and much more muscular, so he could probably catch up to her in seconds. And without her keys, she wouldn't even be able to get into the building. There was nobody at the front desk this late.

_Play it off cool. Stay calm. Breathe. Smile._ "I'm sorry to hear that," May said, her TV personality still on full blast. "But I really need to be going. Have a nice night now." _Smile._

She took a step back, and that was her mistake. He was on her in a second, pulling her into the alley, his fingers wrapped around her throat and ripping at her clothes. Behind the ringing in her ears, there was the faint sound of her groceries crashing to the ground.

"You look just like her," was the last thing she heard before her mind shut down and left her body alone to deal with this horror.

* * *

><p>Blood. There's blood everywhere. There's blood dripping down her legs as her trembling hands scramble to grab at the fabric that used to be her shorts. There's blood in her mouth, either from <em>that man<em> biting her tongue or from cutting her own lip open when she fell on the ground, or both. There's blood on her hands, caked under her nails. Is it her own blood, or had she fought back enough to draw some of his? Either way, the crimson liquid stains her skin.

When she closes her eyes, all she can see is blood behind her lids.

She tries again to get up. When she goes to push herself up, her hand resists. Through the spots clouding her gaze, she can see the fingers of her left hand twisted in ways that don't look healthy. She doesn't remember the pain as he gripped her hand so tight and shoved it so hard against the wall that that happened. She doesn't remember any specific pain. All of it was pain.

She doesn't know how she makes it back to her apartment, but when her trembling hands finally get the key into the lock, she falls into the kitchen and slams the door behind her. She ignores the blood left on the handle. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters.

Skitty runs up to her, mewling. The Pokemon quickly stops in its tracks as May hangs her head and struggles to breathe. Skitty cries out as May falls to the floor, grabbing the kitchen trashcan and heaving into it.

May doesn't know how long she sits on the floor. It could only be a few minutes, but it feels like ages. She doesn't even know how long she was unconscious in the ally. Her skin is cold, and she doesn't know if it's from the now-chilled sea air or her own sickness.

She can't keep her eyes closed for more than a second. If she does, she sees his face.

She moves through her apartment in a zombie-like state. Though the numbness in her hand has faded and her fingers throb, her mind remains empty. All she can hear is her heart beating in her ears and the scratch of Skitty's claws on the linoleum.

She doesn't walk into the bathroom. She doesn't need to see her reflection to know how bad she looks. She can taste the blood on her lips without needing to see it caked on there.

She can't be alone right now. She can't. She feels dead in her own mind and trapped in tainted skin and she's scared of what she'll do.

Somehow, mindlessly, her hand finds Skitty's Pokeball and she manages to call it back. With the fingers of her good hand still trembling, she grabs Latios' and throws the French doors open onto her balcony.

When she releases Latios from its Pokeball, its immediate reaction is to cry out happily. Then it notices its trainer, and pushes its head against May's, making a high-pitched sound of worry.

May signals for Latios to land so she can mount it and wrap her arms around its neck. "Take me to Steven's," she whispers.

* * *

><p>Normally, May would have to fight to keep her eyes open on the flight from Lilycove to Mossdeep. Riding on Latios was nothing like riding on any other bird Pokemon. Latios flew smoothly and quickly, and if May kept her head down and tucked in against its neck, the wind didn't bother her. It would be easily to drift off to sleep for the entirety of the journey.<p>

But that wasn't the case tonight. Despite it being days since she had gotten proper sleep, her eyes were glued open. The sickness in her stomach hadn't settled, and at this point she doubted it ever would. She felt as though she would probably throw up again as soon as they landed, and it wasn't from motion sickness. The pain in her hand and between her legs was excruciating.

And the cold. May hadn't considered how freezing it would be flying over the ocean at this speed in the middle of the night, wearing clothes that were already ripped and now hardly constituted as clothes at all. By the time Latios lands at Steven's doorstep in Mossdeep, May can't feel her hands at all anymore. But maybe it's better that way, as at least it's taking away some of the pain of her probably-broken hand.

She sways as she climbs down from the eon Pokemon. The island is pitch black, save for the ever-lit lights of the Pokemon Center. And though Steven's house seems to be dark, for most would expect him to be asleep at this hour (it has to be nearing four in the morning), May can see a small light on through the curtains and knows that isn't the case. She had known Steven long enough to know that he had never kept much of a regular sleep schedule. He was probably still awake studying rocks.

She has to lean against the door for a moment to steady herself before she can knock. Though she knocks lightly, it still feels to her as if that small action took away most of her strength. From inside, there is silence. May worries that she'll have to knock again and isn't completely sure her fingers will curl into a fist again. Maybe she can just lay down here at his doorstep, and if she's still alive by morning, Steven will find her. Then again, Steven is a bit of his recluse himself and can go extremely long periods of time without feeling the need to exit his house.

Finally, after a few seconds, movement. May counts his footsteps as he walks to the door, just for the sake of keeping her mind sane. Nine.

May didn't realize how much she had been relying on the door to keep her up until it was opened and her support was gone and Steven was saying, "What's going o-" and she was falling on him.

_Please, dear Arceus, don't let me faint again... Don't let me faint again..._

And suddenly her clouded thoughts are gone and the only thing there is the soft fabric of Steven Stone's cotton shirt against her face and a slight hint of cologne (or was it aftershave? shampoo? deodorant?) and Steven saying, "Oh my god, May, what happened? What happened? May? May! ..."

Warmth. Safety. Security. Sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! It's super late but I really wanted to get this chapter out there before I went to bed. I'm not sure how much I'll get to write over the next few days because I have Thanksgiving and then Christmas shopping. **

**This felt... _weird_ to write. I liked it, though. I liked writing from Steven's (third-person) perspective. Oh, and about that, the third-person perspectives aren't changing in any sort of pattern. They're just changing for what's convenient to the story. I obviously can't write from May's perspective when she's unconscious. Let me know what you guys think though! **

**Thanks to everybody who favorited, followed, and commented! I love hearing what you guys have to say. Anyways, enjoy and happy Thanksgiving! **

* * *

><p>Steven Stone had experienced fear in his life. As a child, when his mother fell ill, he got his first real taste of what true fear felt like. Not only would he lose his mother, but he would be alone with his father... which really just meant that he would be <em>alone<em>. As a young teen, he experienced fear when he snuck out to go scavenging for stones and got ambushed by a hoard of Geodude and just barely managed to escape. Becoming champion of the Hoenn region had been the worst fear of all. There he was, thrust into the spotlight even more than he had been before. He had spent years trying to escape the path that his father had paved specifically for him, and had finally been able to walk down the street unrecognized; when Devon's CEO himself never even saw his son, the rest of the population rarely managed to make the connection between the two men. But now, as champion, everyone would know his name. Everyone would know his face. Everyone would expect a part of him.

Having May show up on his doorstep like this was so much worse.

Under normal circumstances, it would be nice having May there, albeit a little weird as she wasn't one to just drop in randomly. But now, with May collapsing in his arms, covered in blood... Steven doesn't know what to think. He has to assume the worst. For once, it looks like the worst might have actually happened.

He doesn't know what scares him the most. Her sudden fainting is pretty bad. There's also the fact that there's not really much of her that's _not_ bloodstained. And her skin... she's so pale. She's cold to the touch, and her breathing is faint. Steven's not surprised, considering what she's wearing. Did she really fly all the way here like that?

Despite his mind racing, all he's really saying out loud is, "Oh shit oh shit oh shit, oh my god, May, May? May, wake up, holy shit, oh my god," and then he's scooping the girl up in his arms and allowing Latios to duck through the doorway before he slams the door shut. Not for the first time, Steven is thankful for how tiny May is, making it easier for him to transport her.

He's not thinking very much further than basic panicking. He doesn't stop talking, though, all the way to the bathroom. He's repeating, "What happened?" over and over, more to himself than to May, and reassuring her (or maybe just himself) that everything will be okay. She'll be okay.

He reaches the bathroom and starts to think that maybe he should have laid her down on the couch first to assess her injuries. But his first order of business has to be to wash all of this blood off of her. Struggling to maneuver with May in his arms (she may have been light, but she was still an adult human), he manages to grab a stack of towels and set them on the floor so he can lay her down and rest her head on them. When he makes sure that she's secure on the floor and that he isn't going to be injuring her any worse than she already is, he turns the tap on in the bathtub and waits for the water to heat up.

He's still chattering out loud to himself. At this point, it's partially to keep himself sane and partially in hopes of waking May up. He reaches down over her and puts two fingers to her neck, just to make sure. Her heartbeat is weak, but definitely still there. Her skin is still chilled, and he dashes out of the bathroom at lightning speed to turn up the thermostat.

He returns quickly and tries to assess how badly she's hurt. There's blood all over her, and he's not sure where the source is, or if there are multiple sources. It likely got on her hands and spread from her trying to rub her legs and warm herself on the flight over the sea. But there seems to definitely be a lot of blood coming from her mouth area, and it appears that she bit through her lip. When he pushes her hair back, he sees another small cut along her hairline. Maybe she fell?

But then he sees her hand, and the blood staining her shorts, and realizes that this is something much bigger.

He's scared to pick her up to move her to the bathtub. He tries to remember what basic first aid he was taught in Trainer's School. As they were preparing to send young children off on their own, you'd think that they would teach sufficient first aid. But clearly, it wasn't memorable enough to stick with Steven through all these years. He knows you shouldn't move someone with a neck or head injury, but he doesn't know how badly she hit her head. Nonetheless, he has to get her into the bath and get the blood off of her. Seeing her here like this, spread out on his bathroom floor, cold and pale, she looks like a broken china doll. It makes his stomach hurt.

Maybe it should bother him or embarrass him to be undressing May, but under these circumstances, it really doesn't. He's just focused on getting her warm and clean and safe. He still has no way of knowing how bad her injuries are. He doesn't really even know what happened, but judging by the blood that seems to have dripped down her legs, it's not hard to guess. Just thinking about it for a second makes him feel sick, but he doesn't have time to be sick right now. There are bigger issues at hand.

He goes on autopilot to clean May. After he lowers her into the tub, he doesn't remember much of what he does. He just focuses on scrubbing away the blood, and soon, the bath water runs red. It makes him more and more nauseous as he continues.

He continues to talk to May, urging her to wake up. His hands occasionally fly to her neck or to her wrist to check her pulse, just in case. When he gets a cup in order to pour water over her head so he's able to scrub the blood out of her hair, she makes sleepy murmuring noises, but doesn't return to consciousness. Steven never imagined that he would ever be in a position like this. Not just with May, but with anybody. He had never realized just how difficult it was to bathe somebody who was completely unconscious.

He finally manages to get most, if not all, of the blood off of her. He grabs a towel and carefully pulls May up and out of the tub, not caring about the water going all over. If he thought bathing her was difficult, this part is near impossible. It's hard to dry somebody off when they can't even stand themselves up. Somehow, Steven manages to do it. May's skin is warmer now from the hot water of the bath, and some flush has returned to her cheeks. Good. That's good. She'll be okay.

He carries her to his room and lays her on his bed, swaddling her in towels. He begins his search for something for her to wear. He eventually just gives up and decides on some of his sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. He has to be extremely careful to dress May and not be rough with her hand, which he is starting to worry about more and more as it begins to swell.

After he has her dressed and puts some socks on her for good measure, he actually tucks her into his bed. He manages to find some more blankets in his closet, and piles those on top of her as well. He leaves her bad hand on top of the blankets, and considers wrapping it in an Ace bandage. Unfortunately, with her unconscious, he has no way of knowing how tight it can be without severely hurting her (or cutting off her circulation). He'll have to leave it like that for now. On a whim, he grabs her hand and presses his thumb into the skin lightly. In her sleep, May's brows furrow and she makes a small, pained noise. Steven feels bad.

His last order of business is to try and lightly towel her hair dry. She had already had one close call with the cold tonight, and definitely didn't need another one (though it was starting to feel like a sauna in here with the heat turned up so high). With that done, he dims the lamp on the bedside table. He can't take his eyes off of May. She looks so much better than she did an hour ago. Now, warm and tucked into bed, she just looks normal. If these were regular circumstances and he had May looking so happy and comfortable in his bed like that...

No. He couldn't think about that right now. This wasn't about his feelings. This was about May and making sure she's alright and finding out what the hell _happened_. And possibly tracking down the bastard and torturing him within an inch of his life.

Steven has to talk himself into leaving the room. Leaving May alone. Even though he knows, rationally, that she's safe now, it still hurts to leave. But he has to go and drain the tub, clean the water up. He has to get things done. He has to go on.

When he's done with that, he grabs a chair and brings it into his room so he can sit there and watch over May. He doesn't know what to do now. He's still panicking, though it's on a slightly lesser scale now.

Should he call the police? Tell them that the former champion of Hoenn was... raped? What he really should do is take her to the hospital. But he knows he could never get her there like this, not right now. There isn't a hospital in Mossdeep. They had a Pokemon Center, and they thought that was enough. But there isn't much Nurse Joy would be able to do for May right now. The closest hospital is back in Lilycove, and Steven knows he wouldn't be able to hold May up the entire flight over there. Especially not at this hour.

Speaking of... he walks over to the window and pushes the curtain aside. The sun is starting to rise. On the beach just outside of his house, Wingulls swoop down over the water. In the distance, Taillows start to sing. Still, it's an ungodly hour of the morning. There isn't even anybody in Mossdeep who could offer any sort of help at this time. He would just have to wait until she wakes up.

Steven lets the curtain fall back over the window and shield the sun. He walks back over to May and pushes her hair out of her face. The cut on her forehead looks slightly worse without the blood there. It's a deep, angry cut. He'll need to sterilize that and probably bandage it when she wakes up. He hopes and prays to Arceus that it won't start bleeding again. For now, there's not much he can do, so he just leans down and kisses her head, whispering, "Sleep well. You're safe now."

In her sleep, May smiles.

* * *

><p>Everything is white.<p>

That's what May first notices when she wakes up. She's surrounded by white. White sheets, white walls. The walls of her apartment are dark beige and the ones in her old apartment were a deep burgundy. Never white.

So, upon waking, her first thought line is, _I'm not home._ After that, it takes a few seconds for that thought to sink in and for the panic to start. _I'm not _home_._

She jolts up in the unfamiliar bed. Upon doing so, her head swims, and the vertigo almost knocks her back down. There's a sharp pain in her hand and in her forehead. She makes quick glances around the room and starts to hyperventilate, feeling like a trapped animal. There's a taste in her mouth like something crawled in it and died. Did she vomit?

The walls are white. The sheets are white, but there's a pile of multicolored blankets stacked on top of them. There's a plain wooden nightstand next to the bed, and on top of that is a lamp that's currently on. The curtains over the window are black, and likely stop all sunlight from coming in, so May has no idea what time it is. She doesn't even know what day it is.

She doesn't know where she is. That's her only thought process right now. _Get up. Get out. Get home. Get safe._ So she leaps out of the bed, momentarily tangling herself up in the sheets. When she's on her feet, she has to brace herself with her good hand on the bed. Her other hand is sort of just... hanging there. She tries to curl her swollen fingers, to no avail. That just makes her panic even more. She tries to run out of the room, but in reality, she probably isn't moving very fast.

She keeps her head down and moves. She doesn't know where she's going. She doesn't know what she's doing. She doesn't know where she is or why she's here or why she's in pain and the reality of that makes hot tears start to flow down her face and suddenly it hurts so bad that she has to lean against the hallway wall and then she just falls. And when she's on the ground, she just sobs and tries to breathe. Her chest tightens up. She can't feel anything but fear and confusion.

"May? Oh my god, May, what are you doing?!"

Slowly, May's breath catches mid-sob and she looks up. "St...Steven?"

And suddenly she takes in her surroundings, seconds ago an unfamiliar prison. On the wall, a framed photo of a couple with a young boy standing in front of the Prism Tower of Lumiose City in the Kalos Region. Farther down from that, a framed certificate. May can't see it from her current spot on the floor, but she now knows that it's Steven's Hall of Fame record from when he won the title of champion. Now it makes sense. She's in Steven's house. She hadn't recognized the bedroom, obviously, but now her surroundings were familiar and the fact that she had been so lost just a moment ago was surreal.

Why was she here?

"You're gonna be the fuckin' death of me, I swear," Steven mutters, and he drops to one knee in front of her. "I leave the room for one minute..." Though there was annoyance in his voice, his eyes are filled with worry, and May _doesn't know why_. The sinking feeling of dread and panic comes to her stomach once more.

Steven slips his hands under May's arms and pulls her to her feet. She doesn't say anything as he practically marches her back into the room. He gestures for her to lay back down, but she just sits on the edge of the bed. He remains standing.

May pushes her right hand through her hair, and freezes as her fingers brush something on her forehead that sends a shot of pain right through her. Softly, she runs a finger over what feels like a cut... a deep cut.

Shaking, she stares at her hands in front of her face. Suddenly, her head starts to swim again and she feels like she's watching herself, rather than living the moment. Is this what a depersonalization moment feels like?

Like diving into cold water, everything hits her at once. _"You look just like her."_ The smell of alcohol and too much cologne. The feeling of fingers pressing into her throat and her breath catching. The pain as her hand is slammed against the wall of the building behind her and something snaps. The blood. The staggering confusion. The cold.

And then, the feeling of soft cotton. The familiar smell of somebody she's close to. Sudden warmth. Soft words whispered. An anchoring voice. Butterfly kisses on her forehead.

Trembling, her voice caught in her throat, she looks up at Steven. He hasn't said anything. He looks worried, but he also looks like he understands.

But he couldn't understand. Nobody could.

This feeling of disgust, this feeling of wanting to claw at her own skin until it was gone and there was something brutally fresh and clean... How could he ever understand _that_?

_She_ couldn't even understand it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! This would have been posted several hours ago if I hadn't spent three hours today at "Prompt" Care to find out if I had strep throat. And congrats, I do! Along with tonsillitis, which is much worse! So I had to get an antibiotic shot and now I'm on two prescription medicines and two over the counter painkillers. Did anybody here know that Prednisone is an absolutely horrid medicine that'll basically prevent you from sleeping forever? Because I had no idea. Oh, and you have to take it with food, which is a little difficult to do when the Amoxiccillin you were ALSO prescribed is making you nauseous. Thx, doc. **

**I really loved writing this chapter. There's angst, of course (this is a Hurt/Comfort fic, guys), but there's also some cute best friend banter. I'd like you guys to read their banter and compare it to your banter with YOUR best friend, then tell me if I got it right. **

**Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

><p>"Y'know, I think I've probably got an unopened toothbrush, if you want it. Toothpaste, too."<p>

"Yeah, I-" May breaks off mid-sentence to continue heaving into the toilet. Steven comes over and pulls her hair out of her face and gently rub circles on her back.

When May is finally done throwing up, she makes Steven get out of the bathroom so she can have a moment to herself. True to Steven's word, there's a toothbrush, still in the box, in one of the drawers. It's green and has a Treeko on it. May smiles despite herself. Did Steven buy this toothbrush himself, or was it given to him at the dentist? Either way, it was cute.

As she brushes her teeth, she meets her own gaze in the mirror. Her eyes look sunken in, despite the dark circles from lack of sleep now being gone. Steven had told her that she had been asleep since 4am, and that it was now 6pm. A full fourteen hours of sleep. She must have really needed it. Steven certainly thought so._ "You need to get more goddamned sleep at home if you think you're just going to show up at my door and pass out and scare me half to death. I thought you'd never wake up."_

She finishes brushing her teeth. She still has a horrible taste lingering in the back of her mouth. It isn't from the vomit.

With her right hand, she tugs her tangled hair back out of her face. She runs a finger along the cut on her forehead. It still stings, but it's already starting to scab over. When did that happen, exactly? Probably when she fell in the ally... That's probably the thing that caused her to faint when she arrived at Steven's. She might have a minor concussion.

_Why did I come here?_ May thinks to herself. _I don't want to bother Steven, but now I know he won't let me leave for a while..._

May examines herself more closely in the mirror. There are fingerprint-sized bruises lining her throat. She presses onto one, and keeps pressing even when it starts to hurt. This can't be real. It's not real. It's not.

And yet again, May is falling to the floor and sobbing into her hands. How long is this going to go on? She goes to scrape at the insides of her arms with her fingernails, thinking maybe the pain would bring her back to reality, but she falters when she realizes she still can't curl the fingers of her left hand. She instead sighs and bangs her head back against the wall behind her, instantly regretting it and gritting her teeth with the impact sends vibrations through her whole head and specifically to the cut on her forehead.

"May?" Steven calls from outside the bathroom, sounding worried. "Is everything... _alright_ in there?"

_No!_ May wants to scream. _Nothing will ever be alright!_ But it's not Steven's problem, and she can't turn it into his. She shouldn't have even come here. She needs to get out as fast as possible. Not that that'll be easy, considering Steven's sudden mother-hen attitude. "Y-yeah," May stutters. She clears her throat. "I'll be out in a minute."

Through teary eyes, she studies Steven's bathroom. Anything to focus her mind on something else. The bathroom is pretty nice for somebody who lives alone and is rarely home to begin with. The walls are a light silvery-blue, similar to the shade of Steven's eyes. May wonders if that was on purpose. Probably not; it was actually a pretty old house, and Steven had just bought it a few years back, and as far as May knew, he hadn't ever done any work on it. The soap dispenser is a dark purple that matches the shade of the hanging hand towel.

There's a silver rack used to stack folded towels on the wall above the toilet and within arm's reach of the shower, but it's surprisingly empty. May realizes that Steven probably used all of the towels while cleaning her off last night (this morning?). She flushes at the idea. Steven saw her naked... oh god. With that in her mind, how is she ever going to meet his eyes?

She doesn't know how long she sits there, but it must be far past her minute allowance, for pretty soon, Steven is knocking again. "Coming!" May calls quickly, nervously. She stands up and smoothes out her clothes- Steven's clothes, actually. Where are _her_ clothes? What's left of them, at least...

She opens the door, and Steven looks a little relieved. May wonders why. Had he actually been worried that she was going to off herself in the bathroom, or something?

"Hey," Steven says gently, with a small smile, "Come with me to the living room. Somebody's been very worried about you."

_Somebody? Like, a person?_ No, no. May can't see anybody right now, not in this mental state. It was bad enough having _Steven_ see her as vulnerable as she is.

"Wait, Steven, wait!" May protests as she follows him down the hall and towards the front room, reaching out to try and grasp at his shirt and halt him, to no avail. "I really don't want to see anybody right now-"

Oh.

Latios, laying in the middle of Steven's front room on a large, oval-shaped floor mat, suddenly leaps into the air and throws its head back, crying, "_Shwaaaa_!" and rushing over to May. It collides with her at such a force that it nearly knocks her off her feet- actually, it would have, it Steven hadn't been standing there to catch her.

"Woah, woah," Steven says, a hint of a chuckle in his voice, "Careful, now, Latios. You don't want to hurt May any more than she already is."

"_Shwaaaa._.." Latios cries softly, looking guilty. May pats its head and leans her small forehead up against its massive one.

"Hey, it's okay, shhh," May whispers. "I'm okay. Thank you for getting me here safely last night." Latios seems to cheer up at this, and it bumps its head against May's.

"Take a seat, May. I'll put the water on for some tea," Steven says, glancing over to the kitchenette that was separated from the living room with only a half-wall.

May sits down on the couch, cringing as her muscles ache. Satisfied that its trainer is safe and sound, Latios settles back down on the floor rug and closes its eyes.

"So," Steven says as he settles down on the couch next to May, the water in the kettle on the stove still far from boiling, "Are you ready to talk about what happened?"

* * *

><p>"I'm not going."<p>

"May, you need to," Steven cries, standing up and pacing around the room. That had always been a nervous habit of his. "Please."

"Non-negotiable."

"May-"

"You're _not_ taking me to the hospital, Steven. You can't. If you try to take me I'll leave right now with Latios and I can't guarantee I'll ever be back in Hoenn again. I don't know where I'll go, but... Somewhere I won't be recognized. Unlike if I went to the fucking _hospital_, where everybody knows me and then it'll quickly become _public information_ that I was... that I was..."

"Assaulted," Steven offers.

"Yeah," May says, her eyes not leaving her lap. "That."

After hearing May's story, Steven couldn't drink his tea. It made his stomach turn. Perhaps even worse was the way that May told it: without even a speck of emotion in her voice, staring straight ahead at her untouched teacup.

It sparked a protective fire in Steven that made him ready to leave at once to track down this horrible monster and put his head on a stick. He had been clenching his knuckles so hard that they now seemed to be permanently bone-white. May had been his best friend and the person he was closest to for over a year now, and she was just the friendliest and most outgoing person he knew. So the idea that somebody could do something so horrible to her... that somebody could hurt her like that...

That's why she needs to go to the hospital.

"May, your hand is probably broken," Steven says softly. He won't mention the hospital again, but maybe he can indirectly convince her that it's the best idea.

"Then we can wrap it up," she says quietly. She looks at Steven with genuine fear in her eyes. "R-right?"

The rock specialist's heart softens a bit. He sighs. May has a point in saying that her attack will be publicized. After quick medical treatment, she'll be interrogated over and over again so that the police can release a profile sketch on the news in hopes that somebody can track down the criminal. And everybody will know, and nobody will ever look at her the same again. It might ruin May's life. As if this hasn't already been bad enough... "Yeah. Okay. Wait here. I'll bandage it up for you."

"I'm not a kid, I can do it mys-"

"Hush."

Steven quickly retrieves the bandage wrap (the kind used for sports injuries, not that he'd really had any of those) from the bathroom and returns to May. Her cheeks are slightly flushed and she looks embarrassed and defeated as he gently takes her hand and starts to wrap it up. May gasps at the sudden touch and bites her lip. Steven can see the pain in her eyes and freezes.

"Want me to stop?"

"No, you're fine," May says, pained. She reaches up with her right hand and pinches her opposite arm. Steven raises an eyebrow in confusion as he continues to slowly wrap up her hand.

"What, your mom never did that for you as a kid when you got hurt?"

"Did what?" Steven couldn't be more confused.

May smiles. "When I was little... well, I was a bit of a klutz-"

"You're still a klutz."

Steven knows that if May had had a free hand, she probably would have hit him upside the head. "Did I ask?" she splutters.

"Sorry. Please, continue."

"Anyways, I would get hurt a lot. Like... a _lot_. My dad was a really strong Pokemon trainer, y'know, even before he became a gym leader, and I would follow him out into tall grass without his knowledge and I'd get lost a lot. Amazingly, I was never actually attacked by wild Pokemon. But there were other things. _Way_ too many scraped knees. And every time, I'd go crying to my mom. And every time, she would sit me on the side of the bathtub and pinch my arm super hard as she put on the bandage. And I'd always say, 'Ow!' and ask why she did it, and she'd always respond the same way: 'Well, it took your mind off of your scraped knee, didn't it?' Which it always did. So it always worked."

Steven smiled and tucked in the end of the bandage. "That's sweet. I'm glad you had a mom like that."

May freezes. "Oh god, Steven, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," Steven interrupts, standing up and smoothing off his slacks. Even in his home, he wears nice clothes. It was something his dad had always taught him; always look presentable. "She died when I was really young, May. I hardly remember it. I'm glad I got the time that I had with her."

"Steven..."

"Don't worry about it," Steven says with a smile as he plops down next to her on the couch and puts a reassuring hand on her knee. Except, instead of being reassuring, May recoils from his hand as if it's a venomous snake and shrinks into the opposite side of the couch. Steven moves back instinctively.

"May, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Steven furrows his brows, standing up and moving back from the couch, but still having a shocked hand stretched out towards May.

"N-no, I..." May shakes and pulls her legs up to her stomach, wrapping her arms around them. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, I just... Your touch... scared me." She buries her head into her legs and makes a choked noise. Steven feels terrible.

"God, May, I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot. I should have known. Of course. That makes sense. It's nothing to be ashamed of, May. Just know that you can trust me, alright? You don't have to, of course. It'll make sense if you don't trust me or anybody else ever again, but please, know that you _can_ trust me. I'm always going to be here for you. Until the day that I step in the wrong hole in the wrong cave, that is. Or the day that my dad gets tired of my bullshit."

She looks up at him slowly. She forces a weak smiles. "Yeah, Steven, I know. Thanks."

"Anytime," he says with a genuine smile.

May's stomach growls. She looks at it in genuine surprise, and it makes Steven laugh out loud. May shoots a glare his way. "You hungry, kid?"

"_Kid_?"

"How does toast sound? I'm afraid I don't much of a food selection... I'm not here much, and I don't really eat that much when I am..." Steven ponders what's even in his cabinets that's not ages past the expiration date as May continues to sit there looking offended at being called "kid." "Oh, I've got some Happiny-O's- wait, never mind, those are really old. Makes sense, as I don't remember buying them. Damn, these are all expired, too. Where's all of my-? This is ridiculous..."

"Toast would be _lovely,_" May grits out. "And I'm not a kid."

"Are you sure?" Steven asks.

"What? Of course I am! I'm really not that much younger than y-"

"No, no, are you sure toast is okay? I can run to the store real quick if you'd rather have something else-"

No!" May shouts, standing up, and then immediately sinking slowly back down to the couch at the sight of Steven's shocked expression. "I just... don't leave, okay? I don't want to be alone..."

Steven smiles fondly at her. "You got it, kid."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hellooooo. It's late, I'm tired, and I just want to get this out there tonight. I'm also extremely bitter because I lost about 5,000 words of writing last night of a oneshot and it was one of my favorite things I've ever written, and I'll never get that back. So yeah. Short A/N tonight. Enjoy! **

* * *

><p>Steven Stone is a goddamn liar.<p>

After going to sleep pretty late last night (since she had slept all day, she wasn't exactly ready to turn in early), May somehow still managed to wake up early. She could hear Taillows chirping excitedly outside in the way that they only did early in the morning.

She groaned and stretched her arms out. Steven's bed was so comfortable. She had offered to give it back to him last night and take the couch herself, but he had refused again and again. Oh well. If he wanted to sleep on the couch, then so be it, as long as he was actually getting_ sleep_.

She could get used to waking up in this bed...

Wait, what? She wasn't _moving in_. Steven was just helping her get herself together, and then she'd be on her way. Not that she really knew where 'on her way' _was_...

May crawled out of bed and yawned. She was still wearing an oversized nightshirt of Steven's, and she really should change. She didn't want to go rooting through Steven's stuff, though. Maybe after some breakfast, he would be so kind as to find her something else that she could wear- preferably something that actually _fit_ and that she wouldn't be drowning in.

Speaking of breakfast, May could smell it cooking the second she opened the bedroom door. It smelled like eggs and bacon, and May raised an eyebrow. Steven could cook? Actually, scratch that. Steven had food to cook _with_? Except when May reached the living room-slash-kitchenette, it wasn't the silver-haired rock maniac standing there in a fancy suit and a 'Kiss the Cook' apron.

It was Wallace.

Which is how May got to her current position. "Steven is such a liar," she whispers to herself, and Wallace whips around with a grin on his face and a spatula in his hand.

"Good morning, sunshine," the water trainer exclaims before nonchalantly turning back to his cooking.

* * *

><p>"He promised he wouldn't leave," May whines into a bite of eggs.<p>

Wallace tuts. "I know, honey, I know." He himself seems to be a bit disappointed in Steven, but Wallace is also the type to do that to people on both sides of the argument just to get the right amount of drama. When Steven came back, Wallace was sure to take his side.

"So... how much did he tell you?" May asks, not meeting his eyes. She instead decides to focus on swirling her orange juice around in the glass, watching the pulp spin in little whirlpools for a few seconds before dying off. Wallace must have gone to the store before coming over here, or else Steven went out last night, because the fridge is now stocked full.

"Enough," Wallace says softly. "And May, I hope you know, I can do everything in my power to track down-"

"No," May cuts him off. "That's alright. I don't need you to." Wallace had taken over for May as Champion when she asked for her leave of absence, so he certainly had power to control the region. If he got involved with it, it would be just as bad as her going to the hospital would have been. "Thanks for the offer, though. And the breakfast."

Wallace beams. "I'm glad you like it! And that poor Steven; he had nothing in his fridge when I got here!" _That answers _that_ question, then._

"So... where is he, then?" May chews her bacon thoughtfully. Not only had Wallace made breakfast (just for her, apparently, as he didn't seem to be planning to eat anything himself), he had also cleaned up a bit around the living room. Steven's house hadn't been _messy_ before, per se, but it was dusty. He wasn't really here often enough to keep up with the chores. But Wallace had seen to that, and now the curtains were pushed aside and light streamed in through the windows and shone off of some of the stones in the glass cases.

"He went to your apartment to get your stuff."

May chokes and nearly spits out her bite of food. "My apartment? Like, my _Lilycove_ apartment?"

Wallace furrows his brows and looks at May in confusion. "Did you have another apartment in mind?"

May takes a deep breath. "No, it's just... my Lilycove apartment... I'm not fully moved in yet," she admits sheepishly. "So the place is a bit of a wreck, and I'm pretty sure I left it in an even bigger state of disarray than it was to begin with."

Wallace shrugs. "You know he won't mind. He's not the neatest person himself, mind you," at this, Wallace glances towards the freshly-dusted bookcases with pride. "He just thought that you'd want some clothes. And he really needed to get your Pokemon." Wallace frowns. "That _is_ something that shocked me, you know. I never imagined you to be one to leave your Pokemon at home, no matter what kind of mental state you were in or how hurried you were to get over here. And you brought Latios, but you left its Pokeball." The dragon Pokemon, still sleeping soundly on the floor, twitches at the mention of its name.

May sets her plate down on the coffee table and pulls her feet up, feeling a bit ashamed. How _could_ she have left her own Pokemon like that? It definitely wasn't who she was... _before_. She doesn't really know who she is now. Not yet, at least. Maybe she'll figure that out.

"Plus, you left your PokeNav! Imagine if somebody had been trying to contact you?" Wallace looks aghast at the thought.

May rolls her eyes. "If anybody's calling, it's probably for another interview to ask about why I'm trying to step down from my position as Champion."

Wallace seems to darken. "Don't say that. Not everybody loves you for your Champion status, you know."

May laughs. "That's what I thought to start with. But then it became nonstop interviews and then I was on the front of magazines and then they were putting me in comics and it stopped being about who I was and became about _what_ I was. You'll see. They love me because I'm the Champion. Everybody does."

"Steven doesn't," Wallace mutters, scooping up May's plate and cup and taking them back to the kitchenette.

"What do you mean by-"

"Shhhhh," the gym-leader-turned-Champion says, leaving her dishes in the sink (May makes a mental note to wash those later; she can't leave all of the work to Wallace). He returns quickly and sits on the couch opposite from her, crossing his legs and folding his arms over them.

"Why are you here, Wallace?"

The man freezes. It's ever-so-slightly, though, and he quickly regains his cheerful persona. "Just to make sure you're okay, of course! And to help if you needed anything."

"And to make sure I don't leave?"

Wallace laughs nervously. "Of course not! Don't be silly!"

"So I could leave right now and you wouldn't try to stop me?"

Wallace stops the fake laughter. "Well, okay. Steven did say something about making sure you weren't in any hurry to go anywhere. I don't think he really planned on you ever waking up before he got back, though. I was actually making the breakfast to put in the fridge for later and when you woke up maybe you'd think that Steven made it and maybe it would charm you a bit. You weren't ever supposed to know that I was here."

_Charm me a bit? Why would Steven care to do that?_ Before May can continue that train of thought, there comes a loud _thump_ outside. With the curtains drawn, May can see Steven hopping off of his Skarmory and calling the steel Pokemon back into its Pokeball.

May is on her feet in an instant, and when the rock collector walks through the door, May is ready to shove at him and shout, "You're a goddamn liar!"

"Woah!" Steven exclaims as he struggles to maintain his footing. "May, what the hell?"

"You left _Wallace_ to _babysit_ me?"

"Hey, I thought I did a good job-" Wallace protests, but is quickly cut off by Steven.

"Excuse me for not wanting to leave you alone here! You told me last night you didn't want to be alone, and I knew you'd probably like to have your stuff and see your Pokemon!" Steven slams the front door and walks to the kitchenette to throw his keys and a bag- May's book bag, it looks like- on the counter. Steven wasn't one to anger quickly, and May is shocked to see this side of him. He's probably mostly just taken aback by her sudden anger, though.

"I made you breakfast," Wallace mumbles.

May purses her lips and tries to keep up an angry facade, but really, she feels tears stinging behind her eyes and she didn't even know why. For some reason, the idea of Steven leaving had just been so terrifying to her. She was definitely starting to get some attachment issues...

"I'm sorry," May whispers. "You just... I didn't think you would leave..."

Steven softens. He sighs, and his shoulders relax. He pulls off his suit jacket and folds it over the back of one of the couches, leaving him standing in just slacks and a white dress shirt. No tie today. "I'm sorry," he says, and it sounds genuine. "I probably should have asked you before I just took off and let myself into your apartment. That's why I called Wallace, though. I figured you wouldn't want to be completely alone if you woke up. Which," Steven admits, "I didn't think would happen. You've never been much of a morning person, May."

"I'm still not," May mutters. She's surprised to realize that Steven's right, and her scenario probably would have been much worse had Steven just took off and left with May all alone in his house. It was a small home, but it could feel like a vast city if one was left alone in it. It would have been just like the time that Steven took off for Kanto and left May with nothing but a Pokemon and a note. '_Trusting we will meet again, Steven Stone.'_

And they did meet again. And it was a similar scenario to this one, with May shouting angrily and her fists landing over and over again on Steven's chest as tears streaked down her face. "You bastard," she had whispered through the tears. "You're not leaving me. You're not getting rid of me that easily. Not you too. Not you."

And Steven had embraced her and become the first one to truly recognize what she was going through. The feeling of abandonment that she had felt her entire life with her father had intensified and multiplied through the person who was the reason for most of her success. Steven was the first one to realize what it was like. Brendan had never been able to grasp that concept. He didn't know what it was like to hang on to little things, to cling to them like they were a life raft in the sea of her own mind. When people lose those close to them, they cling hard to material things for a false sense of security and power.

This was just like that experience all over again. It had felt like a momentary panic at the idea of losing Steven like she almost had once, even though she knew that was obviously ridiculous, and Steven Stone being out of her sight didn't mean he was out of her _life._

Once again similar to that scenario, Steven approaches her and pulls her into a firm embrace. For a moment, May melts into it, not wrapping her arms around him but instead going limp and just resting. And then, Steven's arms, while really only tight enough around her to provide support but not tight enough to be uncomfortable, feel restricting. May feels crushed and claustrophobic, and the firm body pressed up against her doesn't feel safe. She feels small and trapped and cornered, and she does nothing but make a panicked noise and go even more limp until Steven releases her of his own accord and jumps back, shocked.

"Shit, May. Shit. Sorry. I forgot." He looks over to Wallace, who is watching them awkwardly and shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

"Is that my cue to go?" the current Champion asks lightly. "I probably need to be returning to Ever Grande soon, anyways, in case there are any challengers today. Though that's not likely," he adds with a chuckle.

Steven doesn't answer out loud, just walks over to get the door for his friend. He stops Wallace on his way out to put his hand on the man's shoulder and say something quietly. Wallace responds in an equally soft tone, and May's cheeks burn at the knowledge that they're talking about her while she's standing right here.

As Steven shuts the door, May's eyes fly to her bag sitting on the counter. She dashes over to it so quickly that she disturbs Latios' sleep, and the eon Pokemon gazes lazily up at her. She smiles at it. "Sorry, Latios, but the rest of the team is here," she says quietly but excitedly.

Her six Pokeballs- Latios' empty- lay at the very top of her bag, on top of clothes and who-knows-what-else that Steven grabbed. She pulls them out and can't stop the huge smile that forms on her face. She looks at Steven like a kid on Christmas, and he just watches her with an amused expression on his face. "Can I take them out back?"

"Of course." Steven leads the way through the laundry room and out the back door. The door leads out onto the beach, which is still empty at this early hour. May thanks Arceus for that. If somebody saw her walking out of Steven Stone's house this early in the morning, wearing _his_ clothes... they'd start to talk. And that would just draw even _more_ attention to her.

May throws her five Pokeballs in the air all at once, and Latios swoops by her and out into the air, crying out happily. Salamence and Blaziken land a bit farther out on the beach- which is probably good, so May doesn't end up getting crushed. Gardevoir, Mightyena, and Skitty land closer. The three Pokemon are quickly upon May, crying out in concern. The girl is down on her knees in a second, and she doesn't realize she's crying until Mightyena is licking the tears off her face with a wet tongue and a growl forming in the back of its throat as it side-eyes Steven.

"Shh," she whispers, petting it gently with her wrapped hand and pulling Skitty onto her lap with the other. "Hey, it's okay. You know Steven. He didn't hurt me. He's the one taking care of me."

Mightyena still looks suspicious of the man, but it seems to let it go for the time being and rests its head affectionately up against May's. She smiles. This is the lif-

"Um, May?" Steven calls, breaking the moment. "Sorry to disturb, but... Your PokeNav has been ringing like crazy since _before_ I got to your apartment. And it's your dad."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! My day has been composed of a lot of pizza bread, wrapping paper, and, "oh god I only have [x amount of time] to write 2k more words." **

**After this chapter, we're officially about halfway through this fic. I'm not 100% sure it's going to be exactly ten chapters, but this is about where I planned to be halfway through the fic, so that seems to still be the plan! Thank you so much to everybody for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. Every bit of feedback means so much to me. Enjoy! **

* * *

><p>"May, you are in a hell of a lot of trouble."<p>

May swallowed. "Hi, Dad." She feels like she's twelve again and getting caught for trying to sneak out late at night to hang out with her friends. It had been her rebellious middle-school phase, and it had put her on the receiving end of Norman's "disappointed dad" voice more than once.

"_Where have you been_?! I've been calling you since last night; do you know how worrying that is? How _stressful_ that is when you're trying to run a gym?" Of course. This was back to his gym, just like everything else in his life.

May sighs and pushes her way through the door. She glances over her shoulder, where Steven is still standing on the beach and keeping watch over her Pokemon, before letting the door shut quietly. "Sorry, Dad. Did you... need something?"

"I need you to tell me where the hell you've been!" Norman shouts, sounding angry but with an underlying tone of worry still apparent. "Your mother's been trying to get ahold of you. She said you never miss a phone call. And when she couldn't get ahold of you, she asked Brendan, and Brendan said he hasn't heard from you since you moved to Lilycove- _Lilycove_!"

May holds the PokeNav away from her ear, cringing. Oh, yeah. There was that. She hadn't exactly told her mom (or her dad, but he was never involved in her life anyways, so he didn't really count) about her recent relocation. She had wanted to move herself and not have her mom fretting over everything or trying to hire yet another Pokemon moving service. It was also going to act as a surprise to her mother, and maybe as proof of how May was a responsible adult who could take care of herself (and move her own stuff).

But then Brendan had to go along and ruin that plan. What else was new?

May hadn't spoken to her dad since she had stepped down from being Champion a few weeks before, and he hadn't been happy with her then, either. So this was definitely not the best way to rekindle their relationship.

She laughs awkwardly and tries to play it off. "Yeah, about that..."

Norman sighs heavily into the phone, and seems to calm down a bit. "May," he says, and she imagines him clenching his teeth. "Where are you? Are you in Lilycove now?"

"Um," May isn't sure what to tell him. How does she explain her being at Steven's? Not that she needs to explain anything. She's an adult and can do what she wants. But her avoiding the question would probably seem more suspicious altogether than if she just answered it, so... "I'm with Steven."

Her dad pauses. "Steven... Stone?" May makes a sound of affirmation. "What are you doing with him?"

"I'm just... staying here for a while-"

"Is something wrong with your apartment?"

_Arceus, when did Dad become so nosy? Why wasn't he this invested in my life when I _wanted_ him to be?_ "No, Dad, I'm just here to hang out, okay? I'm an adult, remember?"

Norman makes a disapproving noise. "You know I'm just concerned about you. You were driving your mother sick with worry, too."

May runs her fingers through her hair and frowns. She actually feels a bit bad. "I know. I'm sorry. I'll call her later, okay?"

"You better. And May... are you sure you're alright? Did something happen? Why weren't you answering your PokeNav?"

Should she tell him? May knows that if she told her dad, he would stop at nothing to track that horrible monster down. But once again, it would get out to the public. Her life and career would be ruined.

_Stop it. You know that's not the reason you're worried_, a voice in her head nags her. _You're afraid that people will see you differently. You're afraid _your parents_ will see you differently. You think they'll see it as your fault._

May whines, and her dad says, "May?", reminding her that he was still there and still awaiting an answer.

"Oh, sorry, I... yeah, Dad, everything's fine. I'm fine. Really. I just left my PokeNav at my apartment on accident and had to fly back and get it. That's all."

"If you're sure..." Norman himself doesn't sound very sure. "When are you coming home, May?"

_Home_ sounds like a foreign word coming from Norman. May can't really think of it as his home. It was her and her mother's home. Now, it was mostly just her mother's.

She hadn't seen her mother in a few weeks. She had stayed at home for a few days after resigning from her position, and had left again with few words on where she planned on going. That was when she impulse-bought the new apartment in Lilycove and called Brendan to help her move her stuff from the Champion's quarters in Ever Grande to the new flat. But, as her father had said, she normally kept in close touch with her mother and rarely missed a phone call.

She feels bad, knowing that her mom is alone.

"I don't know, Dad," May picks at a hangnail. "I've kinda got a lot going on right now. A lot on my mind. I just need a break, is all. That's why I'm with Steven. I'm trying not to be left alone in my own head right now."

Norman's voice takes a darker tone. "You're not in any kind of... _trouble_, right? Financially?"

"What? No! Arceus, Dad! What do you think I'm doing? Getting involved in drugs and gangs?" You'd have to be into some pretty hard drugs to go bankrupt after being the Champion for a year.

Norman laughs, apparently convinced that that wasn't the case by his daughter's loud objections. "Obviously not. Just know that you can always count on me if you need to, sweetie..."

_Sweetie_? That was new. "I know, Dad."

"And you've always got your Pokemon, too. Just like I raised you. You have a stronger bond with your Pokemon than any old trainer I've ever met, May. Your Pokemon know you better than _I_ do, I have to admit. So you gotta remember that they're always there for you, too."

May smiles. "Of course, Dad. They've always been the thing that's kept me sane and they always will be."

She can hear the smile in her dad's voice. "That's my girl."

* * *

><p>May is in the house for a while, but Steven isn't concerned. It's not like she could go anywhere. Her Pokemon are out back with him.<p>

He sits down on his back porch step and watches as May's Pokemon play excitedly in the sand. He feels bad for them; they obviously haven't been out of their Pokeballs in a while. That's so out of character for May... even before the _thing_ happened, she had been sort of neglecting them. She had told him last night that she'd been in a bad mental state for a while... What _happened_? Was it just from being Champion?

May's decision to step down from Championship (the media called it an "indefinite hiatus," but Steven wasn't sure that she would ever resume the position at all) had been a shocking one. He knows that he was the first one she called. His PokeNav had rung late at night, but he hadn't been sleeping. Getting a call from May was a surprise, but a pleasant one. But from the second he answered, he could hear her breath catching and he knew that she was shaking.

_"Would everyone in the region hate me if I just... stopped being Champion?"_

_"May," Steven had murmured. "Everybody will love you forever, regardless of whether or not you're Champion. You saved the region. You're a hero. Your professional title will never change your moral title."_

Steven is shaken from the memory when the back door creaks open again. May steps out, and Steven is relieved that she doesn't look particularly upset. In fact, she looks more calm than she was earlier.

Her hair is wet and she's wearing fresh clothes, so she must have been gone longer than Steven realized. She looks so much more... _healthy_, now that she's clean and her hair isn't a rat's nest and she's wearing her own clothes- clothes that actually fit. He hadn't known what clothes to grab from her apartment (and not everything was out of the boxes yet), so he just grabbed a few of everything- jeans, shorts, t-shirts, a pair of sweatpants, and some... _undergarments_. He hadn't really looked at them.

Funny. He could undress and bathe an unconscious May, but when it came to grabbing some clean bras and underwear for her, he couldn't move past the burning in his cheeks.

"How did it go?" Steven asks with an eyebrow raised as May comes out and plops down next to him on the step. Her left hand is stilled wrapped up in the sports bandage, but it looks much more sloppily done now, so she must have struggled to do it herself. She's wearing a pair of shorts and a black t-shirt with a Torchic on it. Steven smiles at the shirt and then looks out at her Blaziken, playing on the beach.

May shrugs. "So-so," she says. "He wanted to know where I've been and why I haven't answered my phone in a few days. He was really worried."

Steven stares at her, shocked at her lack of empathy. "Do you even care?"

May looks at him in slight confusion. "Should I? He never cared about me growing up." A dark look seems to take over her for a moment before she shakes herself out of it. "I feel worse about making my mom worry. I called her, too. I explained that I was here with you and that I just forgot my phone, and she understood completely. She said that I've always been a bit of an airhead, whatever that's supposed to mean."

Steven smiles, but still feels a tinge of guilt at making Norman worry (well, at _May_ making Norman worry). May has always failed to see how much people care about her. There are so many people in the world who would be at a complete loss of what to do with their lives if May wasn't a part of them, Steven himself included. Just because Norman had been a shitty father doesn't mean that he doesn't care; he had every right to be worried about May not answering her phone. In fact, something bad _had_ happened, so his fatherly worry was completely justified.

"Oh, yeah, but Brendan completely fucked me over," May says suddenly, angrily, before jumping to her feet and surprising Steven. He just raises an eyebrow again and motions for her to elaborate. "He told my mom about my Lilycove apartment. That was supposed to be a surprise, and he knew it! I was going to take her out to dinner and everything before I showed her..."

"Yeah, but does it even matter now? Are you even going back there?" Steven doesn't know where the words come from, but he regrets them the moment they're out of his mouth. He had specifically kept himself from mentioning anything about May going home or leaving at all last night, and he had just ruined that.

Emotions flash quickly across May's face, too quickly for Steven to make out. "I... I'm not staying here forever, Steven," she says, quietly. "I'll be out of your hair in a few days."

"May, that's not what I meant," he protests, standing up to meet her eyes. He just ends up towering over her as always, and she turns away and stares at the sea. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need. And I don't mind the couch," he adds.

"It's not a matter of me staying. It's a matter of you going."

_Huh?_ Before Steven can ask, May continues:

"You know what I mean. You have to travel. You have to go exploring and finding new stones. It's who you are. And I can't keep you here forever."

Steven wants to argue, but he doesn't. Her words hold merit, though he doesn't yet know how much. "May-" he starts, but she's already running off to meet her Pokemon at the edge of the water.

* * *

><p>The next week goes by in a blur. Neither bring up the subject of May leaving again. May continues to argue that Steven should have his own bed back, and Steven continues to sleep on the couch.<p>

At least he's getting sleep.

Now that May has gotten her body back on a semi-regular sleeping schedule and she's not deprived of it, she finds it near impossible. Tonight starts out just as the previous ones did, with her just staring at the ceiling, illuminated only by the slight moonlight creeping in through the curtains, and feeling unsettled by the utter silence. She can hear Steven's wall clock ticking out in the living room, and it reminds her of the new clock her dad bought for her room when they moved to Littleroot.

Then she finally manages to fall asleep, and the nightmares set in. She's running from _him_, and she's in a dark ally and she bleeding. There's no way out. She's falling. She's screaming. She's crying and she's hurt and she's _falling_-

And then there's a _thump_, a dull pain in her side, and May is on the floor and wide awake. She waits on the floor for a moment, but hears no sounds from the living room. She quietly climbs back into bed. Steven had stopped coming in to check on her. After the first night of nightmares, she had told him that she'd rather he not see her like this. Besides, her falling out of bed is nothing to compared to the bloodcurdling screams that had come from the first few nights.

She knows she isn't getting back to sleep any time soon, so she rolls on to her side and grabs her PokeNav from the bedside table. She mindlessly plays a little 8-bit game and is calmed by the music as she considers her situation.

Her mom had accepted that she might not be visiting home anytime soon. May hadn't told her what happened, even though it broke her heart a little bit every time her mom reminded her that she could trust her with anything. May knew that, and she wanted her mom to know that she knew that. And she knew that her mom would want to know. Her mom would want to get justice. But she couldn't.

She hadn't tried talking to her dad again. He was back to official gym business, according to May's mom. She wasn't surprised, nor was she disappointed. As far as her dad knew, May's life was as normal as could be. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

She and Steven had gotten into a kind of sync. Every day, they swapped out on who made breakfast. Steven reassured May that he didn't mind doing it, but after she tasted her first bite of his horribly-burned eggs, she decided that she could take over the cooking half the time and deal with cereal the other half.

After breakfast, May would shower and change her clothes. She only had a few outfits, so she had been running Steven's water bill up quite a bit with the constant loads of laundry. After that, Steven would help her wrap her hand back up.

Her hand still throbbed painfully and she still couldn't bend her fingers. Steven continued to fret over it and still asked her every morning if she thought she should see an actual doctor. The answer was always no.

Then May would leave Steven alone to do work and she would go out to train her Pokemon. She had gotten used to nobody coming down to this part of the beach. Steven's house was a bit out of the way, all the way at the very end of the island. She never had to worry about people stumbling upon her and inquiring as to why the Champion-on-a-break was staying with the former Champion, of whom she had dethroned.

Her team seemed to enjoy the practice, even though they were just battling against one another rather than actual opponents. It gave them a much-needed opportunity to hone their abilities. May started to get that spark back and remember why she fell in love with battling in the first place.

Maybe there was hope that things could return to normal some day.

May rolls over in Steven's bed and clicks her PokeNav off. She pulls the sheet up to her neck and pulls her knees up closer to her chest. She yawns, and thinks of Steven, sleeping out on the couch. She bets he snores.

May smiles at the thought, and it's the last thing she sees behind her eyes before the darkness takes over and she drifts off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! As always, it's extremely late at night when I'm posting this. This is because I have a big school event on Friday and I've somehow been put in charge of literally everything (and my class president is doing literally NOTHING), so I've spent the last four hours crying into a poster board and making last-minute phone calls. But here's this, finally. **

**This entire chapter is just a lot of talking. Also some insight into Steven's past, yay. Oh, and there are a couple off-handed mentions of events from ORAS's Delta Chapter in here, so if you haven't played that, those one or two lines might just seem weird to you. But it's not a huge deal. Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

><p>In retrospect, climbing on the roof may not have been the best idea.<p>

May had ignored Steven's protests and pulled herself up by hanging on the gutter, which was also not a great idea. Amazingly, it held her weight long enough for her to anchor herself up and onto the roof. Had Steven's house not been so small, it would have been impossible. But May is glad for its relative closeness to the ground and also for the own strength she built up over her travels, for together, they allow her to pull herself up to a nice vantage point. She smiled triumphantly out at the sea and motioned for Steven to join her.

Steven had opted for a more practical route and called out his Aggron to lift him up and place him on the roof next to the small girl. She just rolled her eyes and continued to climb up and sit at the apex of the roof. He followed suit and only when they were finally seated together did May realize how cold it was. That's what leads to her current position, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself while Steven gives her a bemused stare.

She glares. He sighs. "Do you want my ja-"

"Absolutely not."

Steven snorts. "Don't say I didn't offer."

"I won't," May says defiantly. She kicks her legs out in front of her and runs her fingertips along the scratchy roofing panels. Staring up at the stars, she murmurs, "Remember the first time we sat up here?"

She doesn't need to look at Steven to know he's smiling when he responds. "Of course. You seemed so young then. You still are, but... being Champion aged you so much."

"I'm nineteen," May mutters. "Not young. But I was so scared, y'know? I was terrified. That's why I was here. That's why I always end up here." She looks up at the stars and thinks back to the last time. It was right after she had met Zinnia and right after she had to fight Deoxys to stop the meteor from hitting Hoenn. Right after she saved the region for the second time within a week.

_"I'm not ready to become Champion," May whispered. She stared at the stars, shining brighter tonight than they ever had before. Her experience leaving the atmosphere had served its purpose in changing her view of the night sky forever._

_"And you never will be," Steven said in reply. She looked at him curiously. "It's not exactly a small change, May. It's the biggest and probably the scariest thing that will ever happen in your life."_

_The realization hit her like a bag of bricks. "You hate it, don't you?"_

_Steven blanched. "I wouldn't say that, exactly, but..."_

_May sighed. "How horrible is it going to be?"_

_"Well, the battling isn't bad," Steven offered. "Not that you'll get to do that much, though. Not many people can make it through the Elite Four. You weren't the first one to challenge me, not by far, but you were definitely the first one I expected to win."_

_May smiled at that. She scooted just slightly closer to Steven, such a small distance that she hoped he wouldn't notice. But she caught it when his eyes flickered towards the movement, and she knew she had been caught. She tried to play it off and look back up at the stars, but to her surprise, Steven's hand found her own, picking at the grouting, and squeezed it._

_She wanted to stare at him surprise, but was frozen, so she continued to examine the night sky. She tried picking out constellations and ignoring the firm hand in hers. His skin was warm but she could feel the callouses from many years of digging around in caves. Slowly, she curled her fingers slightly around his, and he decreased his pressure and just let his hand sit there in hers._

_"Am I going to want to quit?" she asked, to break the silence._

_Steven contemplated it for a moment. "Perhaps," he eventually said. "It'll... take something out of you. Be prepared for that. Just don't let it change you. The moment you find that happening, get out immediately." _

May blushes when she thinks of that night. Holding Steven's hand... at the moment, it had felt extremely flirtatious, like it might lead to something. But that had been the last night she had seen Steven for months- the next day, he disappeared out of the blue with nothing but a note and a Pokemon he wanted her to train. So, she knows now that he had probably just been trying to comfort her. He hadn't meant anything by the gesture. Besides, that was over a year ago, now. Steven probably didn't even remember doing it.

May wonders, vaguely, what she would do if he did the same thing now. Would she be okay with his touch, or would she recoil away from it again? The idea of being touched was comforting, but the actual action itself felt like a hot iron against her already damaged skin.

"What are you afraid of?" May asks, quietly. She isn't quite sure where the question comes from. She isn't completely all there in her mind right now.

Steven looks at her. He shrugs. "Nothing, I guess. I'm scared of losing my Pokemon, I suppose? Losing the people close to me?" He doesn't seem too sure of his answers.

"No, no," May says, with a wave of her (good) hand. "I don't want your deep bullshit. I want your itty-gritty phobias. Y'know. That small, irrational fear that everybody has."

Steven frowns. "I... I don't have an-" He breaks off mid-syllable because of the "no more bullshit" look that May gives him. He sighs. "It's stupid," he mutters.

"Tell meeeeee," May whines, fully aware of how immature she sounds.

"I'm afraid of the dark," Steven mutters quietly, under his breath.

May pauses for a full few seconds. She considers what he said. Then, she bursts out laughing. "The... _dark_? Like, literally, just the dark?"

"A lot of people are scared of the dark," Steven snaps, not looking her way.

"But you're a _rock collector_!"

"I prefer 'gem enthusiast,'" he mumbles.

"You spend most of your time in caves! _In the dark_!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Hilarious, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, it's just," May pauses to catch her breath, still laughing, "I just can't imagine _you_ being scared of the dark. Why would you continue to collect ro- sorry, _be enthusiastic about gems_- if you were scared of being in the dark?"

Steven contemplates this for a moment. "As a kid, it was my only escape, I guess," he murmurs, taking a more serious tone. "After my mom died, I was left alone with a nanny a lot. And I _hated_ that nanny. So I would sneak out a lot, and there were always caves around, so I'd hide there. I'd make a game out of it. Each time, I'd try to be hidden for longer than the last time before the nanny found me." He laughs, and May smiles at the sound. "She got the police involved more than once, too. Never told my dad, though. I mean, it would have gotten me in trouble, but she probably also would have lost her job."

May is shocked at all of this new information. She had never learned exactly why Steven _had_ gotten so interested in rocks. "So, that's why you took up collecting, then?"

"Sorta. I guess so. One time, in one of my ventures into the cave, a tunnel collapsed and I got trapped. That's probably what made me so scared of the dark, I think. And I was stuck in there in the dark, trying to find a way out, but I knew that digging in the rocks might just make it worse. And so to take my anger out, I would feel around for rocks that I would throw at the wall, and it would make me feel just a little bit better. A little tough, I suppose. But then one of them broke open, and it lit up the entire cave. It was a fluorescent geode, full of glowing crystals. And that kept me comforted until the police came and someone dug me out of the cave. That sparked my interest in rocks and gems. The idea that there's so much beauty and mystery on the inside."

May smiles. "That's a great story," she says softly. "So that eventually grew into a love for steel- and rock-type Pokemon, then, too?"

Steven beams. "Yes. A lot of time spent in caves meant a lot of time exposed to those sorts of Pokemon. When I turned ten and my dad had found out about all of my trips into the local caves and about the many close calls I had had, he decided I need a Pokemon of my own that was capable of using moves such as Rock Smash and Strength. I built my team from that. It wasn't until a few years later that I decided to travel. I took on the gyms with ease, all while exploring new caves and learning the lore of areas. And then I became Champion, and my opportunities to travel lowered."

May frowns. "But you were traveling when we met. You met me at a lot of different places along my journey."

"That's because I was _trying_ to help you," Steven says with a smile. "I saw potential in you from the moment we met. My father wouldn't have trusted just anybody to deliver a personal letter. I hoped that you would one day reach the Pokemon League and challenge me. The gym leaders all wanted that, too. Everybody saw your potential, May. Everybody knew you were destined for greatness."

"Except I _wasn't_," May says, and Steven frowns. "I quit, remember? I wasn't up for the task."

Steven sighs. "May, that's not the case at all, and you know it. You were the best Champion the region had ever seen. And you were so much more than that, too. You're also the hero of the region. None of that changed when you decided you couldn't take it anymore. I don't blame you. I put up with the pressures for _years_, and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't want to resign."

"I don't know how I can go back," May whispers, and her eyes burn as she tries to will herself not to cry. She had cried in front of Steven so many times already.

"You don't have to," Steven says, and suddenly May is very aware of the man sitting next to her and the warmth radiating off his body. She wants so badly to lean up against him and have him put his arm around her, but is too nervous to do so. Even if she could convince her mind not to freak out at the touch, she doesn't know if Steven would _want_ that. "I'm sure Wallace is perfectly content being Champion for now. You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do. Nobody would blame you if you never went back."

"My dad would," she mutters, picking at something under her nails.

"And you've already proven that you don't really care for his opinion, anyway."

May wants to reply to that, but has nothing to retort. It's true. She had been disappointing her dad for years. Even when she had become Champion of the region, even when she had _saved_ the region from disaster _twice_, he hadn't been all that impressed. He was more angry with her quitting than he had been happy with her receiving the position. Well, he hadn't ever made much of an impact in her life by choice, so she sure as hell wasn't going to let him make one now when she didn't want him to.

"What are you afraid of, then?"

The sudden subject-change back to their original topic startles May, but she's glad that the conversation has been diverted from talking about her Championship. She isn't thrilled at him putting the spotlight on her, though, even though she had just done the same to him several minutes before. The girl hesitates. "I'm not sure. I don't really have any phobias, I guess."

"Tell me your deeper fears, then."

May scratches at the roofing. It's cold under her palm from the chill in the air. Though it hasn't gotten any warmer out, May no longer feels the cold. Her skin has adjusted, though it feels icy to the touch. "I'd like to say I'm not afraid of anything anymore," she starts, slowly, "and say that the worse that could possibly happened has already happened. Because that's true. I can't imagine anything scarier than that. Nothing could possibly be as bad. So I should be golden, right? I should be fearless. I should be able to take on anything.

"But it's the opposite. Instead, I'm scared of everything. Every sudden noise; every shadow in the night. I'm scared of being by myself because I don't trust myself to be alone in my own head. When I am, the poison creeps into my mind and it's a hell of a lot scarier than being in a dark cave. Because you can't escape it. You can't escape your own mind."

May doesn't notice the hot tears spilling down her cheeks until a breeze picks up and the chill catches on her face. She sniffles and reaches up to wipe at them with the back of her bandaged hand. It aches in response. Steven sits quietly, staring up at the stars. They sit in silence for so long that May wants to scream, _'Say something!'_ She had expected at least a _slight_ response. Instead, Steven acts as cold as the autumn air around them.

He doesn't say anything until May starts to shift around uncomfortably, and then he seems to have been woken from a stupor. "Travel with me," he says, suddenly, and she jumps at the unexpected sound.

She blinks at him. "What?" Had she heard him right?

"After your hand heals, let's go somewhere. I don't care where. Sinnoh, if you want. Or Unova. Wherever you want to go. There are caves everywhere. There's always more research to be done wherever I go, so it doesn't really matter. And you can take on the gyms, or you can just battle trainers for fun, or enter contests. But it's better than being here and being alone. I won't let that happen to you. I won't let you be alone anymore."

May's breath catches and she doesn't know what to say. Travel... with Steven? While the idea excites her, its unknown prospects also serve to terrify her.

She should be jumping at the opportunity. A year ago, when he left her to go "soul-searching," she would have killed to have the chance to have gone with him. But now, so much is different. She doesn't know exactly _what_ they are. He's her best friend, sure, but is there something else going on between them? She's such a mess of emotions that she can't tell her feelings straight, and Steven isn't exactly easy to read. She doesn't want to make things more complicated than they already are.

But if she goes with him, like he said, she won't be alone. And she'll be out of the region, so she won't have to deal with being recognized at every corner. It'll be a fresh start. And then she won't have to worry about her housing situation or having to go back to Lilycove...

But what about her mom? What about Brendan? What about the Pokemon League?

Steven must take her silence for reluctance, as he quickly adds, "But if you don't want to travel, I mean, I'll stay here with you for as long as you want me t-"

"What's the weather like in Sinnoh?"

Above them, a shooting star flies across the sky. May's eyes follow it until it fades from visibility.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry this took a bit longer than my other chapters to post. If you read my A/N in the last chapter, you'll know that I was super busy all of last week because of a school event, and I've spent the weekend trying to catch up with everything else in my life. This is chapter seven, meaning there will be three chapters left! I'm going to try to get those all posted before Christmas. **

**Also, I've watched the movie Repo! the Genetic Opera TWICE since last night. I've seen it so many times and practically have it memorized. If you've seen it, tell me your favorite character and song in the comments. If you haven't seen it, you should! **

**Content warnings on this chapter for alcohol, underage drinking, and Steven Stone generally being irresponsible. **

* * *

><p>Two weeks passed, and then three. May had looked it up and knew that it would take about six weeks for her hand to heal enough that it didn't need to be wrapped, and another two for it to heal completely. And the wait was <em>agonizing<em>.

In all honesty, May was just getting stir-crazy. Sure, she got to go out and train her Pokemon, but other than that, she couldn't really _do_ anything. She could leave if she wanted to, of course, but she still wasn't ready to face other people. She was perfectly content just staying in Steven's house, but it killed her to know that she wasn't of much use. With half the things she did, Steven had to help her. She couldn't even put her own bandage back on, for Arceus' sake.

She just wanted her hand to heal so that she and Steven could set off on their journey together. She kept begging Steven to just let them leave now and tried to reassure him that her hand felt just fine, but he just continued to chastise her. She was ready to leave. She felt too confined.

So one morning, when Steven is still out cold on the couch (and May had heard him still up around four in the morning, so she wasn't expecting him to be waking any time soon) with his head resting on a hand and a bit of drool dried on his chin, May slips out the front door. She's wearing a hat and a long jacket that she "borrowed" from Steven's closet, along with some sunglasses that had been tucked in one of the pockets of the bag that Steven had brought from her house. Her PokeBalls are tucked into the pocket of the hoodie she wears underneath the long coat. She feels like a celebrity hiding from the paparazzi. In some ways, she is.

It feels weird, being out where somebody could see her. She's just running to the grocery store and the PokeMart down the road. Steven needs milk and her Pokemon need potions; she had used up every drop of Pokemon-related medicine that Steven kept in his house, as she hadn't actually gone out to take her Pokemon to the Pokemon Center. Steven had offered to take them, but May had been afraid that her team was too well-known throughout the region, and it might look suspicious for Steven to have the Pokemon of the former Champion who had basically disappeared from all media.

She could take them to the Center now, but she was certain that Nurse Joy would recognize her, disguised or not. May had spent a lot of time in Mossdeep, both during her journey and afterwards. During her reign as Champion, May had made a lot of trips to Steven's house; it was a much shorter trip from Ever Grande to Mossdeep to see Steven than it would have been from Ever Grande to Littleroot to see Brendan, so May always went with the former when she was craving the company of a friend. So she was certain that this town's Center nurse would recognize her in a heartbeat. Maybe, if she was lucky, the cashiers at the grocery store and PokeMart wouldn't get a good enough look at her to make the connection. She'd be quick. In and out.

She ducks into the supermarket, which seems to have just opened. Good. Less people, less chance of somebody recognizing her and inquiring as to why exactly she's in a Mossdeep grocery store at nine in the morning. A lone teenage boy standing behind a checkout counter and looking like he'd rather be sleeping raises an eyebrow at May when she doesn't remove her sunglasses upon entering, but other than that, no questions are raised. She starts down an aisle.

It goes well for about ten seconds, and then the tall shelves on either side of her start to feel looming and the surge of bright colors makes her feel claustrophobic despite having plenty of room. She had been buying groceries before the_ incident_. She had been out alone. She had been stupid.

Brown bags crashing to the ground, food items scattering about. Trying to pick them up quickly. Unable to find her keys. _"Hello, beautiful."_ Fear, pain, cold, blood, dark.

May runs out of the store and doesn't stop running until she's back inside Steven's house.

May doesn't tell Steven about her trip out. He's still asleep when she arrives back and she knows he'll remain sleeping for a few hours. She gets a protein bar out of one of the cabinets and takes it back to bed with her. She lets Skitty out of its Pokeball and lays down with it. She's shaking, and Skitty extends a leg out to paw at her face until she has no choice but to smile.

May manages to fall asleep for quite a few more hours. When she wakes up mid-afternoon, Steven is still passed out on the couch. She turns on the coffee pot and shakes the rock collector awake. He grumbles and moans about being tired for several minutes before he's completely conscious and looking slightly embarrassed. When the coffee pot beeps its readiness, he perks up and is off the couch in seconds. May smiles to herself.

"Late night?" she asks, leaning against the counter and eyeing the silver-haired man as he practically inhales the coffee, black.

"Yeah," he murmurs sheepishly, holding his coffee in one hand and using the other to try and smooth down his hair, most of which is sticking up in all directions. It's cute.

_Wait. No. It's not cute. What? It's not cute._

"I was reading up on a cave in Sinnoh. Turnback Cave. There's so much lore surrounding it... It's said to be home to a legendary Pokemon, you know. Locals say that it's a link between our world and the Distortion World, and that it's the place where the barrier is weakest. I thought it'd be worth checking out when we go there."

May brightens at the thought of their upcoming travels. And a legendary Pokemon? That was something she could get on board with. As long as it wasn't yet another one that she had to stop from destroying the world.

"There's also Mount Coronet," Steven continues, seemingly growing more and more excited. "The magnetic fields there are through the roof. It's one of the only places in the whole world where you can evolve a Magneton and a Nosepass. It's also home to Spear Pillar, which is where Arceus was said to have originated from when it created all life. So many people have written accounts of this place. I've heard rumors about many rare stones being found in abundance here. We'll also have to check out the Iceberg Ruins when we're there... May, are you paying attention? You're staring."

May blinks back into focus. She hadn't noticed that she had spaced out. Steven was such a dork, rambling on about caves and rocks. It was so cu-

Definitely not cute.

* * *

><p>Later that night, after May has had a shower and changed into some fresh clothes, she decides she wants to map out where exactly they'll go in Sinnoh. With a towel on her head, cocooning her wet hair, she walks out into the living room, where Steven is watching TV. "Hey, Steven, I was thinking-"<p>

_"And the rumors have been confirmed true. Champion May of Littleroot Town has been spotted in Mossdeep city, and is allegedly staying with the former Champion, Steven Stone, himself. What is going on between these two? Is it possible that-"_

Steven silences the TV and turns to stare at May with wide, shocked eyes. "May, I-"

"Turn it up," May whispers, and sits down next to him on the couch. On the screen, where the reporter's lips are moving but no sound is coming out, a picture of May rests in the corner. It's not even a good picture; it's the one that's on her trainer identification card. She's several years younger and her hair is tied in her once-signature pigtails. There's a grin on her face and innocence in her eyes.

Steven hesitates before un-muting the television._ "Nobody has seen or heard from Champion May since about a week after her decision to temporarily step down from her position as Champion. Her father Norman, who runs the Petalburg City gym, could not be reached for questioning. Many rumors have circulated about May leaving the region, but now it is confirmed that she is indeed residing in Mossdeep, the very same city as our beloved Steven Stone. This is not the first time that people have caught wind about a possible relationship between the two. May has mentioned her closeness to the previous Champion in several interviews, stating that she wouldn't be where she is today without him. So, is he just a mentor to her, or is there a scandal going on between them? Check back in at eleven for more on this story."_

The news show cut to commercial and an advertisement for cereal came on. Steven clicked the TV off and settled back with a heavy sigh. Neither spoke for a long moment. Then May said, in a choked voice, "Do you have any alcohol?"

Steven looked at her as if she had just grown a second head. "I do, but that's in no way relevant to whether or not you could have any. Which you can't, because you're nineteen. And the legal drinking age is twenty-one."

"I'm almost twenty," May protests. "Which is basically twenty-one."

"Then on your twenty-first birthday, I'll buy you your first drink."

May looks at him with pleading eyes and sees his resolve crumbling. "I just want to forget," she whispers, and she can see pain in Steven's eyes as he watches her fall apart. "I just don't want to think right now."

Steven sighs, but he glances back at the kitchen, which May thinks is probably a good sign. "I could get in so much trouble," Steven mutters, but stands up.

"Nobody else will ever have to know," May says, and tries not to think about how that would sound taken out of context.

Steven opens one of the many cabinets in his kitchenette that May had never thought to open. He fumbles around in it for a moment. He comes back up with a bottle in each hand. "Tequila or Jack?"

* * *

><p><em>I'm a god damn idiot<em>, Steven thinks as he watches May sitting alone on the couch, giggling hysterically as she stares at the TV... which isn't on.

Steven had thought that May would either take a drink of the liquor and immediately realize her mistake, or otherwise just get slightly tipsy and fall asleep. But she had poured herself a shot of tequila, and then another shot and another. Steven lost count after she started drinking straight from the bottle. He had tried numerous times to stop her, but to no avail. When the tequila ran out, he put the Jack Daniels back in the liquor cabinet and locked it, slipping the key on top of the refrigerator (where May wouldn't be able to reach it even if she _wasn't_ in an inebriated state).

Steven examines the now very-drunk girl. In reality, she probably hadn't drank that much (as the tequila bottle had been far from full when she got it), but she was such a lightweight that the alcohol absorbed into her system much faster than it would have his. She needs to eat something, though. Steven goes to the kitchenette. "May, I'm going to make you something to eat, okay?" he calls.

Her laughing stops. "I'm not hungry, Stevie," she responds airily.

He doesn't know whether to smile or to grind his teeth at the nickname that she would never utter sober. "I know, May, but you need to. Is toast okay?" She doesn't respond, and he takes a moment to make sure that she hasn't fallen unconscious or hurt herself. She seems fine and is just staring at the bandage on her hand as if she has no idea why it's there. "Toast is it, then," he mutters to himself.

After the two slices of bread are toasted, he slathers them with strawberry jam. No peanut butter. Just the way that May likes it. He's just thanking Arceus that he didn't burn it this time as he carries it over to the couch and precariously tries to help the drunken girl sit up. It feels weird having his hand on May's arm without her flinching away. Still, he knows that she wouldn't want him to touch her if she was sober, so he tries to keep the contact to a minimum and leans her up against the armrest.

Steven settles into the armchair opposite the couch and watches May stare at her toast for a long time before she finally picks up a piece and starts eating it. Once she starts, she doesn't want to seem to stop, and the rest of the toast is gone very quickly. Steven laughs under his breath.

"Why are you laughing at me?" May asks with her bottom lip sticking out in a ridiculously fake pout. Her voice is slurred.

"I'm not," Steven assures her off-handedly. "Now, May, you really should be getting to bed. You're going to regret this in the morning." He stands up and smooths off his slacks.

Just as quickly as she had gobbled down her toast, May is on her feet. Steven steps back a bit in surprise as she races over to him. She stops in front of him and puts her hands on his chest, and he stumbles back a bit. "Um, May-?"

She throws her arms around his neck and pushes her face up towards his. "Kiss me," she slurs, a tinge of sadness mixed in.

"Wh-Wha- May, back up," he says, trying to unlink her arms and push her back gently. It's no good. She's got him in a steel-locked hold. "May, you're drunk," he says gently. It feels weird to have the girl so close to him when he's spent the last few weeks unable to touch her in any way.

"Not drunk," she mumbles, her eyes closed and her lips pouted in a kissy-face. "Kiiiiiiiiss meeeeeeeeeee." She continues trying to pull him down towards her, and he takes the opportunity to duck out of her arms and step aside.

May opens her eyes and looks at him, hurt. "Why don't you love me?" she says, and her eyes start to tear up. Steven's eyes widen. Oh, shit. Suddenly May is crying and then she's back on him, now just pressing her face against his chest and pulling on the collar of his shirt as she sobs into it. Steven slowly lifts his arms and wraps them around the small girl with a feather-light touch.

"Shhh," he whispers.

"Love me," she cries. "I love you. Why don't you love me back?" There's so much hurt and confusion in her sapphire eyes, and it breaks Steven's heart.

"Shhhh, I do. I do love you, dear," he whispers, then thinks, _Where did _that_ come from?_ It's true, but he never imagined himself saying it to her. Especially not like this. Not that it matters, though. She won't remember it in the morning. And he's sure she doesn't mean anything that she said, nor does she actually want to kiss him. She's just drunk and her hormones are through the roof from not having any bodily contact with anybody for so long.

Steven holds May against him like that until her sobs die down and she grows quiet, and then he scoops her up in his arms bridal-style. She's asleep by the time he lays her down in bed.

He sets a garbage can by the bed and a glass of water and bottle of Advil on the nightstand. He takes one last glance at the sleeping girl before shutting the light out.

* * *

><p>Steven expects to wake to the sound of May hurling in the bathroom early in the morning, but that never comes. Instead, he sleeps soundly into the late hours of the morning. When he wakes up, the house is silent. Frowning, he heads to May's room. Was she really still sleeping?<p>

When he pushes open the door, his heart sinks in his chest. The bed is empty, and made up perfectly, which May never does. There's a piece of paper set on the pillow, taken out of the notebook on the kitchen counter. Steven's hands shake as he approaches.

_I'm so sorry about last night. I'll get out of your life forever._

Steven stands still until his trembling hand clenches into a fist around the paper, crumbling it. Just as he had once done to her, May has disappeared from his life with not even a hint as to where she was going. Just as suddenly as she had come back into his life, she's out of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys! How's it going? Once again, sorry for a few extra days' wait on this one. I had a busy week. Finals earlier in the week, then yesterday was mine and my boyfriend's one-year anniversary, and then today he and I had our Christmas together. **

**This chapter is over a thousand words longer than the other ones, though, so I hope that makes up for it! I just couldn't stop writing. There's literally NO interaction between May and Steven in this chapter, though. It's just a lot of stuff leading up to the next two chapters. Not filler, though. It's all important. Also, Brendan! **

**Hope you enjoy! Thanks to everybody who reviewed! Reviews encourage longer chapters like this. **

* * *

><p>When you don't feel welcome anywhere, it's hard to go <em>home.<em>

Sure, May knows that she has tons of places she could run to. Her mom's house. Brendan's house. Wally's. Zinnia's. Lissia's. Her own secret base. But Steven would think of all of those places first, if he didn't despise her as much as May suspected and actually attempted to search for her.

There was also always her Lilycove apartment, but May knew she wouldn't be able to step foot in there without getting sick.

Instead, she hops onto Latios, tears stinging behind her eyes, and just says, "Fly."

* * *

><p>She somehow manages to fall asleep and doesn't wake until Latios is landing bumpily on a patch of gravel. It's much better than the first time she woke up today, with a sinking feeling in her stomach and a pounding in her head. She had managed to throw up in the trash can placed by the bed before she started to remember what had happened the night before.<p>

She didn't remember many details, but she knew that she had been throwing herself on Steven. She could feel the ghost of Steven's skin on hers, and it wasn't a bad feeling. It wasn't like the other phantom touches she was constantly forced to feel. It was warmth, comfort, _love._

But she knew that Steven didn't love her. He couldn't, not after what a fool she had made of herself last night.

May looks around, trying to gather where Latios has landed. It's mid-morning, and there's a chill in the air. It's nearly winter now, and May is starting to realize that the hoodie she's wearing just might not cut it if she's going to be sleeping outside.

She seems to be out in a field, with grass surrounding her and a small patch of water not too far off, and it looks familiar. She turns around, and sees a large building in the distance. _Oh._ She's by Mauville. The reopened Mauville, where the whole town is joined in one large mall/apartment complex.

While May is nervous to approach the city in fear of being recognized, she is in desperate need of something to eat and something warmer to wear. She steps down off of Latios and smooths down her clothes. Yeah, the gray hoodie and black leggings definitely won't be enough. With her Pokeballs tucked snugly into a hoodie pocket and her backpack slung over one shoulder, she heads towards the city.

She flips up the hood of her sweatshirt halfway through the revolving door. With a little luck, she might be able to make it more than a few steps through the doors without being ambushed. She knows it's unlikely that she'll go unrecognized for the entire trip, but remains hopeful that maybe she'll at least have enough time to take in all of the overwhelming new sensations.

She holds her breath when she first steps into the shopping complex, and releases it after a few seconds of inactivity. Despite the early hour, the place is lit up like a Christmas tree and is abuzz with activity. With her hood still up, she reaches up with one hand to push her hair back farther into it. She really needs to cut her hair soon. She's starting to look nothing like the picture on her trainer ID card. Maybe that's a good thing. She's not that girl anymore and never will be again.

May feels pretty good about herself when nobody stops her. Maybe she's old news now; maybe nobody had watched that broadcast last night. Still, she is more than paranoid. Every pair of eyes trained on her for just a second too long make her skin crawl and she curls her fingers inward and digs her fingernails into her palms. She feels like she's about to break into a cold sweat. She just needs to keep her cool.

She strides past Rydel's Cycles, past the Inverse Battle Shop, past the Ribbon Store. She instead makes her way to the PokeMart inside the city's inner garden.

May keeps her head down as the grabs one of the baskets inside the sliding doors. She hurries down one of the aisles and tries to convince herself to be comforted by the slightly-familiar scent of the PokeMart. She had spent a lot of time within PokeMarts during her journey, and they all smelled the same: fresh and slightly medicinal.

May puts so many Hyper Potions into the basket that it already starts to feel weighted down. She also grabs a few Revives, Repels, Antidotes, and Paralyze Heals. In the back, they keep a small section of jackets, for idiot trainers like herself who had gone out unprepared. She flicks through the rack for only a short while before deciding on a jacket that seemed thin from the outside but was full of Mareep wool on the inside. It would have to do for now. Upon approaching the checkout counter, she backtracks and throws an Escape Rope in the basket, just in case.

The cashier, a young girl with bright bubblegum-pink hair and even brighter eyes, beams at May as she starts to ring up the items. May keeps her head down and mumbles short responses to the girl's inquiries as to how she was doing, what she thought of the weather, et cetera. The girl reads out May's total and she slides her credit card across the counter. She would have preferred to pay in cash, but she hasn't been to a bank in ages and is lucky enough that she has her actual wallet with her gold card.

The clerk must not have payed much attention to the card when she was actually swiping it, because she has already handed it back to May before she reads the name on the computer screen and gasps loudly. "Oh my god, you're-"

"Thanks," May says as she hastily grabs her bags, hurrying out of the store.

May sets her bags down on a bench outside of the store so she can quickly transfer the items from the plastic shopping bags into her own book bag. Not for the first time, she is amazed at how so many healing items can fit in her small bag along with her clothes and all of her other personal items. She zips up the bag and slings it back over her right shoulder.

May makes a quick stop at the Pokemon Center right next to the Mart. Once again, she keeps her head down and doesn't make eye contact with the nurse. She just hands her Pokemon over, trying to ignore the twinge of fear that overcomes her for the few seconds that she is without them. This isn't Steven's house. She's out in public, surrounded by hundreds of people who she's never met but who possibly know every aspect of her life. Any length of time without her Pokemon, no matter how short, makes her feel extremely exposed and vulnerable.

May feels rude as she quietly thanks the nurse and heads out, but there's not much more she can do. If she stays in one place for too long, she'll surely be recognized.

May runs through a list of the city's stores in her head as she arrives back in the courtyard, where people are gathered around the small replica of Lumiose City's Prism Tower. She really needs a grocery store where she can buy small food items that are still filling, like protein bars. Unfortunately, there's not an actual grocery store within the complex. The city has only a small population permanently living within the apartments upstairs, and those who _do_ live here must travel to a neighboring town to do their shopping. It's kind of ridiculous; May could go and buy a Gorgeous Royal Ribbon for $999,999, but she couldn't buy a snack.

Her stomach growls at the thought, and she curses under her breath, earning her a dirty look from a nearby mother walking with a small boy. The only place to get a bite to eat within the shopping complex is at the Mauville Food Court- otherwise known as the Battle Food Court.

_Well, you _have_ been itching for a battle,_ a voice in her head reminds her. She tells it to shush. It has a point, though. She could get in and eat a small meal and have a quick training session, all the same. It might be good practice, if she was going to be traveling alone. She might be rusty, and should get used to battling someone again before she's out in the middle of nowhere and being confronted by a whole gang of trainers.

She could be quick. There probably weren't many trainers in there at this hour of the morning, anyway. She wouldn't be recognized. Teenagers never paid attention to the news these days, anyway.

* * *

><p>Steven is losing his mind.<p>

His initial reaction is to pace back and forth across the living room. He thinks better when pacing. He doesn't know how long he paces for, but it's long enough for his feet to start to ache and for his mind to get absolutely _no where_.

At some point, he sits down and starts making phone calls. Biting the nail of his thumb on one hand, he uses the other to scroll through the contacts of his PokeNav and reluctantly hit 'call.'

The phone rings six times, and then there's a click and the sound of shuffling and a heavy sigh. "What the hell is it, Stone?"

"Brendan," Steven says, urgently. The boy sounds like he just woke up, and Steven hopes that doesn't make him less likely to help. This is about May, after all. "I need your help."

There's more shuffling and another sigh, though smaller this time. Brendan clears his throat, and is apparently awake enough to throw his sarcasm into full-force, for he responds with, "Please, Steven, remind me of when I gave you the impression that you could call me up to ask for favors."

Steven cringes. He never meant to do something to make the younger boy dislike him, but apparently he had. Brendan had always had a bit of contempt of the rock collector, even when he and May had been on their journey together. This gained a bit of force after Steven went soul-searching and left May behind. Steven hadn't been around to witness the train wreck, but apparently Brendan had. May explained it away as Brendan disliking the fact that Steven had made his best friend upset, but Steven knew there was more behind it than that.

"Please, Brendan," Steven tries to maintain a professional tone, and feels a bit ashamed that he's already resorted to pseudo-begging. "It's about May."

"What isn't, these days? I hear she's hauled up in Mossdeep with you." Brendan makes no attempt to hide the bitterness in his voice. Steven wonders if he's upset about May staying with Steven specifically, or if he's just angry that she isn't with _him._

Steven takes a deep breath. "Well, she _was_," he says, shakily, "but now she's gone."

Brendan hesitates. "What do you mean, _gone_?"

"There was... an _incident_. Last night, she got drunk and-"

"You let May _drink_?" Brendan exclaims angrily. "May doesn't hold her alcohol very well, Stone."

"Well, she was really upset, and she guilted me- wait, what? When has May gotten drunk before? And with _you_?" Steven doesn't mean for it to come out accusingly, but it's probably best that it does.

"You abandoned her, Stone," Brendan deadpans. "And you know who was still here for her? Me. And that wasn't enough."

Steven feels increasingly guilty, but tries to shake himself out of it. He'll think about it later. "You haven't heard from her, then?" Steven already knows the answer, and he drops his head into one sweaty hand and pushes his hair back, tugging on it in frustration.

"No, I haven't," Brendan murmurs, his voice suddenly revealing his worry. "She's not here. I'm sure she's not at her mom's, either, because she still would have ended up here. She always does, you know. After you decide you're bored with her and you move on to a new pretty rock, she ends up coming crying to me. And she always will, until the day that you hurt her enough that she realizes that she could do better." Brendan pauses for so long that Steven looks at his PokeNav to make sure the boy hasn't hung up. "Don't let it get that bad, Stone." There's a click and three beeps as the call ends and Steven is left alone in an empty house with those words echoing in his mind.

* * *

><p>May couldn't have been more wrong.<p>

Not only is the Battle Food Court busy, but it's _packed_. It's just as active as the many other times May had been here. She continues to keep her head down and approaches the counter. She swipes her trainer identification card. She has been here before and won many battles, so she is able to order the biggest and most expensive item: the Mauville Ramen Bowl. Maybe since she's won so many times before, she'll be able to skip the battling this ti-

"Wow! Since you've managed to beat all of the trainers in all three rounds, you now get to battle the Fare Prince Trencherman while you wait for your food!" The over-excited girl behind the counter kills May's hopes of getting out of here quickly. She sighs and approaches the battle area. The crowd before her parts like the Red Sea.

When she assumes her position on one side of the battlefield and starts fiddling with the PokeBalls in her pocket, she starts to hear whispers of, _"Is that Champion May?"_ all around her. With a sigh, she pulls her hood down, and there's a collective gasp from the crowd. So much for an easy meal.

May expects "Fare Prince Trencherman" to be on par with a hardcore Tower Tycoon, but she is soon face-to-face with a boy who couldn't be older than twelve.

"Prepare to lose!" he shouts, obnoxiously, as he calls out his first Pokemon, a Lucario.

_Does he know who he's battling?_ the cocky voice in her head asks. She shrugs internally and throws out Salamence's PokeBall. Finally, a real battle.

* * *

><p>"I... I can't believe I lost."<p>

May turns her back to the sniffling young boy and is greeted with a waiter holding her bowl of ramen. She grins and takes it from him, claiming a seat before another greedy teenager can take it.

The crowd around her is still in shock at how quickly she won. Apparently, not many had managed to win against the young boy. For his age, he was an amazing trainer. Still, May had been the _Champion_. She knocked out both of his Lucarios and his Togekiss just with her Salamence, though it was getting pretty weak by the end.

Amazingly, nobody approaches her while she's scarfing down her food. May suspects that they're all a bit intimidated after that battle. It felt great to battle again. May is relieved to know that she still has it in her to battle intensely. It was actually... _fun_. That was something that the Championship had taken away from her. This battle felt real. She was battling for herself... even with the knowledge that there were cameras on her from TV Mauville. Pretty soon, her battle would be all over BuzzNav. That was fine. She'd be out of here soon enough.

When she finishes her ramen, she stands up, and a waiter quickly comes by to grab her dishes. May doesn't even have the chance to take a step before there's a camera in front of her and a microphone being shoved in her face.

"Champion May, where have you been? What are you doing in Mauville? What's your business with Steven Stone?"

"No comment," May mutters before grabbing her bag and running out of the food court.

On her way out of the shopping center, she sees a group of teenagers admiring a large painting of Rayquaza. May stops. She knows where she needs to go.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, it's not her apartment any more?" Steven slams his hands down on the desk angrily, and a cup of probably-lukewarm coffee jumps a bit.<p>

The man behind the desk takes a drag of his cigarette and blows the smoke right into Steven's face. "Listen, pal, she don't get to keep the apartment forever if she ain't gonna pay rent. She wasn't even livin' here, so what does it matter? I moved her stuff into the basement storage so I could rent the place out to someone actually willing to pay."

Steven sighs and turns around so he can tug at his hair and dig his foot into the ground in frustration. When he's managed to compose himself, he faces the man at the desk again. "So, she hasn't been by here, then?" he asks.

"Not in over a month," the man answers.

Steven sighs. Another dead end. He hadn't expected May to return here, as it would bring up too many bad memories. But he had still held hope, as his many phone calls yielded no results. He had texted Wallace and asked the man to keep an eye and ear out for any new information. If anyone got gossip fast, it was Wallace.

When Steven leaves the apartment complex, the sun has set and the many bars and clubs of Lilycove are lighting up. As Steven walks down the street with his hands shoved as far into his jacket pockets as possible, he eyes up a bar wantonly. It's been a long day. Maybe he deserves a drink.

Though Steven keeps alcohol in his house, he isn't much of a drinker. He mostly keeps it for guests and only indulges in the rare shot of liquor after a failed excavation or glass of wine after a successful one. Nevertheless, the idea of having a drink right now was too tempting to not give in to. As Steven walks into the dingy bar, he thinks about how, ironically, alcohol is what got him into this situation in the first place.

Steven sits down at a bar stool and orders a shot of Gin as he starts to fumble with his PokeNav. The only people in the bar are Steven himself, the barkeep, and a group of middle-aged men gathered around the pool table and already laughing drunkenly. Steven tries to tune out their sounds as he starts scouring the internet for new information on May.

Typing in May's name in a search engine yields millions of results in a second, so he filters it to show only news articles from the last twenty-four hours. The first few on the list he doesn't bother to click on, as they are all from gossip magazines with titles all along the lines of, _"Scandal! Is Champion May Sleeping With Dreamboat Entrepreneur Steven Stone?"_

He downs the first shot and motions for another.

Then, he finds it._ "Champion May spotted in Mauville City's Battle Food Court."_ He clicks the link and taps his fingers anxiously on the bar as he impatiently waits for it to open.

Under the headline but before the actual article is a picture of May, and for once, it's not the one from her trainer ID card that they've been showing on the news. It's a candid shot of her mid-battle. Her Salamence is standing several feet in front of her, but the massive dragon Pokemon takes no attention away from the beauty and passion radiating off of the former champion.

Though May is just wearing an over-sized gray sweatshirt and tight black leggings, Steven thinks she has never looked more beautiful. Her dark brown hair hangs loose and some of it seems to be sticking to her face, but she doesn't seem to notice or care. Her eyes hold a burning passion that Steven hasn't seen in over a year. Her mouth is open, and it's almost a smile. Steven is so entranced by the photo that he doesn't even remember that he should be reading the article until the bartender is slamming down his drink and he is awoken from his stupor.

Mauville. She's in Mauville. At least she was this morning. It's a start. A lead, which is something that Steven didn't have before.

He downs the second shot and slides his credit card across the counter to the barkeep. He stands up and straightens out his clothes. As he waits for his card back, he catches yet another part of the drunken mens' conversation.

"Tell us again what she said!" one man says, laughing and making sounds similar to a pig.

"She just begged," another man replied. The whole group is looking to him, Steven sees when he glances over his shoulder. "She was fuckin' terrified. And she was obviously tryin' to get away. _'My Pokemon are at home and I should get home to them!'_" he imitates in a high, falsetto voice.

The men continue to talk and Steven tries to tune them out again, but then his blood runs cold. It feels like a slap in the face.

Ten seconds later, he has the man's shirt in one fist and is slamming the other into his jaw.

Steven doesn't get many hits in before he's jumped by the rest of the group. He feels pain, and then there's a calm darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys! Second to last chapter! For some reason, this was horribly difficult to write. I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but I couldn't put it into words. I still got it out pretty quickly, though! And I'm hoping to have the last chapter out on Tuesday night. No guarantees yet, though. **

**So, this chapter could technically be the end. The last chapter is to serve as a sort of epilogue and also to tie up loose ends. It should be good, though! I'm excited to write it (by the time you read this, I've probably already written it). **

**Anyways, enjoy! So much love to everybody who's reviewed on here or sent me nice messages on tumblr about it. **

* * *

><p>The Sky Pillar is calm. The flight up there, however, was not.<p>

May had wondered many times why it was necessary to go through the process of waiting on someone to unlock the gates, climb the ladders, and battle high-leveled wild Pokemon in order to make it to the top and to the Sky Pillar. Seeing no problem with just skipping the obstacles and flying to the top, May did just that. Upon completing the shortcut for herself, however, it became clear as to why exactly this had never been attempted- or, at least, had never been accomplished.

The winds were fiercer than any other area May had flown in before, and she had flown through snowstorms, sandstorms, and the like. She wasn't sure exactly why the weather got so rough above a certain elevation in that area. Maybe it really just was the physical geography of the area, or maybe there was something mystical protecting the Sky Pillar from lowly travelers who wanted to skip the challenge. Probably the latter.

The obstacles that led up to the Sky Pillar were meant to test something. They were meant to make sure that the trainer was strong enough to take on whatever lies on top of the Sky Pillar. It was similar to how Victory Road was strategically placed before the Pokemon League. If a trainer who didn't have all eight badges somehow managed to sneak past the guards and into Victory Road, they would quickly be defeated by the high-leveled wild Pokemon and trainers and be forced to turn back.

The winds surrounding the Sky Pillar obviously were not very happy with May taking a shortcut. She knew she'd be fine; she _had_ made it to the top of Sky Pillar honestly before, after all. And she had caught Rayquaza already, so there wasn't much up there to be feared anymore. Rayquaza itself now resided somewhere in the region with Zinnia, who had vowed to train it well and make sure it lived up to its full potential. May had been chosen as its rightful trainer, but she wasn't about to throw out one of her team members simply because a legendary dragon Pokemon had come to her. After she battled and defeated Deoxys, she immediately entrusted the Pokemon with Zinnia and got her Skitty back from the PC box it had temporarily been sent to.

Somehow, May managed to make it through the fierce winds. She had nearly been knocked off of Latios several times, though. She is sure that the trip would have been impossible without the strength and speed of the legendary Pokemon. After Latios lands and May steps out onto the dirt, she wraps her arms around the dragon Pokemon's neck and leans her head against its for just a moment, whispering, "Thanks, buddy." It cries out happily in response.

May takes in her surroundings. The sun is just now starting to rise on the horizon, so she has hardly any light. Her eyes should be well-adjusted, considering the length of the flight, but she had had to keep her head pressed firmly into Latios' neck for the last stretch of the journey due to the wind, so they're now once-again straining to adjust to the lack of light.

In the darkness, though, she can see the outlines of the broken walls around her. The dirt floor is still scattered with rubble and debris. She leans down and picks up a piece, running her thumb over the broken concrete. When she applies a bit more pressure, it crumbles and falls through her fingers in pebble-form. _If I were more poetic, I would compare that to my life at the moment,_ May thinks.

She digs out the small throw blanket she had bought from out of her bag and spreads it on the ground. Before flying here, she had flown to a nearby town that actually had a grocery store. She stocked up on small food items, bottled water, and some more winter items- thicker jeans, boots, and the aforementioned blanket.

It had been a long flight from there to here. May had had Latios take a longer route so as to divert anybody who might be tailing her. She had Latios fly in circles for a while before finally getting en route to Sky Pillar. May is relieved to finally be sitting on a solid surface that's not moving; she still feels like she's swaying back and forth. When she closes her eyes, her world spins.

She digs a protein bar and a bottle of water out of her bag. She isn't hungry, but knows it's probably good to get something in her stomach to help her think better.

Once she's eaten and rehydrated, she looks around again. The sun is higher in the sky now, and there's enough light that May can fully take in her surroundings. May is about to stand, but hesitates when she glances down at her broken hand, still wrapped in the sports bandage from Steven's house that she hasn't taken off yet. Hesitantly, she unwraps it. Her hand won't be fully healed for another few weeks, but it feels much better than it did a few weeks ago. It burns when she removes the bandage, though, because it had been confined inside of it for so long.

She calls Latios back into its Pokeball and lays her stuff down on the blanket before getting up to walk around. She runs her hand over one of the broken pillars and gazes out at the sea raging hundreds of feet below her. She steps back wearily from the ledge. The floor isn't completely solid by the edges, and one wrong step could mean the end of her.

Not that that would be so bad _now_, when she had no where to go.

May isn't sure exactly what she was expecting. She's at Sky Pillar now, and she's still no better off than she had been in Mauville. She had thought maybe, by coming her, she would realize what she needed to do. This was the last stop of her Pokemon journey. This was the last place she had felt alive.

After that, she became the Champion, and her life was never the same.

May thought that maybe, just maybe, being in this place again would stir some sort of emotion in her. Still, she just felt empty. She felt dirty, used, disgusting. Why would someone ever want somebody as damaged as her?

Wingulls squawk in the distance. May looks out to the sea again.

* * *

><p>When Steven comes to, the first thing he is aware of is the cold feeling of ice pressed against his forehead. The second thing is that his hand hurts, <em>a lot<em>.

He furrows his brows and looks around, trying to figure out his surroundings. It takes him a moment to realize that he's sat up in a chair in the bar with a bag of ice on his hand and a bloody towel sitting on the table in front of him. He curls his fingers and cringes. His knuckles are bloody. He's sure it's not broken, but it'll probably sting for a few days. Maybe he hit the guy more than he thought.

"Well, look who's awake," a voice says, and Steven looks up to see the bartender walking over to him. There are no other patrons in the bar.

"What happened?" Steven asks, and frowns at how his voice comes out in a croak.

"I kicked those guys out," the barkeep says, leaning up against the table next to Steven. He can't be older than thirty-five, but there's a tiredness in his eyes that makes him appear much older. "You're damn lucky I didn't call the police on you. Only reason I didn't was because you passed out. I hate fighting in my bar, but what I hate even more is unfair fights."

Steven sets the ice on the table before he stands up and grabs the chair for support for a moment. He hurts all over, but he's sure he's just bruised. He raises his fingers to his face, and the soreness of his cheek and the puffiness of his bottom lip confirm this. "Thanks for not throwing me out on the sidewalk," he mumbles. He needs to find that bastard. Now that he knows what he looks like, he needs to go to the police. He can't let him get away. Not again.

"So," the bartender drawls, "You wanna tell me why y'all were fighting?"

Steven studies the man for a moment. He wants to say no and be on his way, but maybe this man could help him. "I need to find the leader of that group. The man I punched. Do you know his name?"

The bartender raises one eyebrow. He doesn't look angry; in fact, he looks rather interested. "I do, but that's not really information that I can be giving out. Especially not to someone who just punched him with guns blazin', with no apparent reason."

Steven takes a deep breath before deadpanning, "He raped Champion May."

The barkeep stares at Steven for a moment before he takes in the words and his eyes bug out comically. "No," he whispers, horrified. "That's not why she...?"

"Went missing?" Steven offers. "Yeah, it kinda is."

The barkeep looks down at his hands, wringing them. "How can I believe you?" he asks, staring at Steven accusingly. "That man is one of my best customers, and if you're lying..."

"I'm Steven Stone," he says with confidence, knowing that that'll do the trick. He hates playing the name game, but he knows that most people in the region know his name for one reason or another, whether it's from his father, from his Championship, from his work with rocks, or from the thousands of dollars he's donated to small businesses' startup funds.

Sure enough, the man's eyes widen once more. Then he furrows his brows, saying, "Hey, I thought I heard on the news that you two were-"

"We're just friends," Steven interrupts with a sigh. "She came to me for help, which is why I need to take that bastard down. So, can you help me or not?"

The bartender takes a deep breath. "Cooper Whitaker," he says. "I can get you his address, too. I've had to hail a cab for him on more than one occasion. Let me write it down for you."

* * *

><p><em>Bzzzzz.<em>

May glances back from the sea to her PokeNav, which is sitting on the blanket with her bag. Hesitantly, she walks back to it and drops down to her knees. Steven's name is on the display screen, once again. It had rang many times on the flight over, and the day before. She continued to let the calls go to voicemail. She wondered how Steven felt, getting the same voicemail over and over again. _"Hey, it's May! I can't get to the phone right now, so leave me a message! ...Or text me! Whichever one of those! Bye!"_

She's amazed that he still cares enough to call.

She sighs and holds the PokeNav in her hand until the buzzing stops. She pictures Steven standing in his living room, listening to that same message. Or maybe he's not home. Maybe he's out looking for her. She doesn't understand why, though. Why would he continue to worry about her when she had just pushed herself onto him? He should hate her.

She looks up at the sky. It's beginning to become a beautiful eggshell blue. She lets her eyes un-focus for a second, just to see what it looks like when it's blurry. Then, something flies across the sky, and she blinks back into focus. A Pokemon with rainbow-colored wings and a trailing tail of gold is flying out of her field of vision, and May leaps to her feet to stare at the magnificent Pokemon for just a second longer. When it's gone, she feels lighter. The sinking feeling in her stomach is gone.

She picks up her PokeNav.

* * *

><p>Steven has never flown on a Pokemon faster than he does on the way to Sky Pillar. Still, the journey feels agonizingly long.<p>

When he reaches the fierce winds surrounding the tower that May warned him about, he ducks his face into his Latias' neck and holds on for dear life. The winds are cold through Steven's thin suit jacket.

He keeps his face tucked down for so long that he jerks up in surprise when Latias lands. He gets off the eon Pokemon shakily, looking around for May.

She's standing out near one of the edges, gazing out at the sea. He approaches her silently, then stands next to her. She doesn't say anything, but he knows she's aware of his presence by the way her shoulders relax slightly when he stands next to her. He notices that she doesn't have the bandage on her broken hand anymore, and he frowns disapprovingly.

"It's so beautiful," May says after a while. She's still gazing at the sea and hasn't looked at him.

Steven stares out at it, too. It's pure blue for miles in all directions. Off to one side, he can just barely see the outline of the walls surrounding Sootopolis City. Out another way, he can see the outline of Pacifidlog Town. "Yes, it really is," Steven murmurs in response, but now he's trained his gaze on the girl with eyes the same color as the water down below.

May seems to pick up on what he was implying and looks at him with a flush in her cheeks. When she finally lays eyes on him, her eyes widen and she gasps, horrified. "What happened to your face?!" she exclaims.

"You should see the other guy," Steven says with a crooked smile.

"Steven, what the hell?" May puts her hands on her hips angrily. Now _that's_ the girl that Steven knew.

"Found the bastard that ruined your life," Steven says softly. He reaches out a hand, slowly, like approaching a baby dear. May stares at it with fear in her eyes before finally taking his hand in hers. "He's locked up, now. Gone for good. And I paid the cops enough to guarantee that none of this will be leaked to the media. Your secret is safe."

May's mouth gapes like a fish. Steven smiles. "Wha... What? How did you find him? Is he the one who did this to you?"

Steven explains the story of searching for her and how he ended up at the bar. He leaves out the details about exactly _what_ that horrible man had said about her, instead just saying he "overheard them mentioning her." He continues on about how the bartender had given him the man's information and how he took that straight to the cops, and how he got to watch as the cops entered his house and slammed him down onto the floor.

He also leaves out the part about how he had called Brendan. The boy's words are still ringing in his head. Has he really hurt May that many times? Is he really going to do it again?

_No,_ a voice in his head says, defiantly. _Not again._

Using the hand that's still holding May's, Steven pulls the girl close to him. He doesn't make any more moves and instead waits for her to relax enough to wrap her arms around his waist. He smiles and wraps his arms around her, too, before resting his head on top of hers. "No more leaving with just a note, okay?" he murmurs into her hair.

"That goes for you too, y'know," she mutters back.

"I know, dear."

"Dear?" she pulls away and looks up at him with a look that's half-confusion, half-amusement.

He shrugs. "I dunno," he says, trying to play it off.

May inhales a deep breath and then lets it out, straightening up and pulling away from his touch. "What are we, Steven?" she asks, returning to the edge of the platform to look at the water.

Steven feigns confusion. "What do you mean?"

May glares. "You know perfectly well what I mean."

"Well, what do you want us to be?" Steven approaches her and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her up against his side.

May sighs dramatically. "Well, I know you'll never think I'm as pretty as your precious rocks, but..."

"Hush," Steven mutters, and pulls her into a kiss.

* * *

><p>"Got everything?"<p>

May zips up her backpack. She adjusts her belt, situating her Pokeballs on the side. She reaches up to straighten her hair, back in pigtails once more. She meets Steven's smile with one of her own and reaches up to grab the ticket labeled, "TO: Jubilife City."

She grins back at him. "Yep."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Wow, hey guys! This is the last chapter! And I actually stuck to my word and finished all ten chapters before Christmas. I wrote an entire chaptered fic within a month and I didn't give up on it or abandon it for months. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it makes me really proud of myself.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! There will be more notes at the end. **

* * *

><p>"Hey, dear, I'm heading out."<p>

May sets the eyeliner down next to the sink and glances up at her boyfriend, hanging in the doorway. He's wearing a black three-piece suit and shiny shoes. Though he wears dress clothes most of the time, the suit still makes him look great. May, though she's not anywhere near being ready to go yet, still feels as though she'll pale in comparison.

"You look great," she says softly, coming up and putting her hands on his chest. He wraps his arms around her lightly; though it's been over a year, sudden touches, especially rough ones, still scare her. She still feels the haunting touches of the man who recently went to court and was sentenced with twelve to twenty years in prison.

Steven kisses her head and pulls away, smiling. "All the eyes will be on you, anyways," he says.

May rolls her eyes and turns back to the mirror. "You're the superstar here tonight."

"For once," Steven mutters.

After many years of donating to charities and small businesses, Steven had been asked to come and speak at a charity auction. The people running the event also wanted him to accept a reward for all of his generosity over the years. Steven refused at first, but May eventually convinced him by reminding him that the two former Champions of the Hoenn region being at the event would probably draw a larger crowd. Steven knew that May was right and that having more people at the event would raise more money for whatever the charity was, so he reluctantly agreed. The event didn't start until five, but as May and Steven had only just flown into Hearthome and arrived at their hotel this morning, Steven needed to get to the venue early to prepare for his speech and be prepped on how to present himself.

Meaning May would have to go to the venue by herself later.

Steven seems to see the look in her eyes and realize what she's thinking about, for he swoops down and brushes his lips against hers gently before lifting her chin and forcing her to make eye contact with him. "Are you sure you'll be okay taking the subway yourself? I can always come back and get you, if you want."

May shakes her head and tries to smile reassuringly. "I can do this by myself," she says. "I need to."

Steven smiles back. "That's my girl." He kisses her one more time before leaving the hotel room and leaving May alone with only the soft sounds of the TV turned on as background noise and Skitty snoring quietly on the bed.

May takes a deep breath and returns to the mirror, picking up her eyeliner again. Now for the actual challenge: making herself look sophisticated enough to stand up next to Steven Stone and actually have a shadow of a chance of looking on-par with him.

* * *

><p>May wakes up to a paw on her face. She grumbles sleepily. "Five more minutes," she mumbles. The paw continues to hit her cheek lightly before she feels claws and her eyes fly open.<p>

"What the hell, Skitty?" May exclaims, blinking a few times to clear her eyes and fully see the cat Pokemon sitting on her chest.

_"Skiiiiiii!"_ the Pokemon cries. May stares at it for a few seconds before gasping loudly.

"Shit, what time is it?" she exclaims, rolling over on the bed and jostling the cat Pokemon, who tumbles a few feet away. May jumps out of bed and runs to her PokeNav, which is sitting on the cabinet next to the TV on a charger.

4:40.

Shit. She still has time, but not much. She hurries into the bathroom to check her hair and makeup, which she did before she accidentally fell asleep. Her eyeliner looks mostly un-smudged, but she runs a fingertip under one eye to fix it just slightly. Her hair, which was curled earlier and fell halfway to her back in beautiful ringlets, is now more than a bit tangled. May swears and digs through her makeup bag until she finds a hairtie. She pulls her hair up into a high ponytail, fluffing it with her fingers and not daring to risk touching it with a brush. She fluffs it up until her curls look okay, then she hastily sprays it with hairspray.

She leaves the bathroom hastily and examines her outfit in the full-length mirror hanging near the room door. She's wearing a short, strapless black dress that she bought just for this occasion, and it looks mostly fine. She smooths out a few wrinkles in the fabric and adjusts the liquid silver necklace around her neck so that the clasp is in the back. Then, she lobs on her heels (nearing five-inches, so that she wouldn't look _too_ tiny next to Steven) and calls Skitty back before tucking her PokeNav and Pokeballs into her purse and rushing out the door.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the Blue Route train is currently shut down."<p>

May's eyes bug out at the woman in the glass box behind the counter. She has short black hair, a snaggletooth, and her name tag reads _'Barb.'_ She laughs nervously and tries to ignore how hysterical she must look. "No, no, you must be thinking of something else. I need the Blue Route train that stops near the convention center." May flashes her Champion-smile at the woman. A year back out in the real world hadn't taken away the skills that May had learned for interviews.

Barb loses her fake smile. "Sorry, hon. That train is closed for maintenance. It'll be back up in about an hour, though, so if you still want to buy a ticket..."

"An _hour_? I don't have an hour!" May exclaims angrily. The woman looks a little taken back, so May mutters, "Sorry." She knows it's not Barb's fault. There's no point in shooting the messenger.

"So, the ticket...?"

"No, I'll just walk," May mutters, turning her back to the ticket counter and allowing the annoyed-looking man in line behind her go on.

_More like run_, she thinks, but by the time she makes it up the stairs and back out into the above-ground light, her feet are starting to ache from the heels. If she's going to run, she'll have to take them off...

May stares wearily at the sidewalk and the many areas that are covered in gravel or broken glass. That's not going to happen. She'll just have to deal with the heels.

She shuffles along the best she can, trying to take long strides but eventually having to resort to many small steps instead. She curses the heels and the decision to buy them. She shouldn't have trusted Steven's judgement. Why did she even ask for his opinion, anyways? She swears under her breath and tries to ignore the confused-looking pedestrians staring at her.

From somewhere behind her, somebody whistles. May's hand immediately flies inside of her purse and lands on a Pokeball. She keeps it there, even though there are no following sounds.

At some point, she stops mid-step and just halts. A man walking behind her swears as he almost runs into her and gives her a dirty look when he walks past. Is she even going the right way? She just sort of took off after leaving the subway station, but she isn't even entirely sure where the convention center is. She pulls out her PokeNav to call Steven, but then sees the time. 4:55. Shit. If she called him now and told him that she _wasn't_ on the subway and instead was lost in an unfamiliar city, he'd freak out and worry and probably leave to come looking for her.

She'd have to ask someone for directions. She bites her lip and continues walking, trying to stride confidently but feeling clumsy in the heels so probably just ends up looking extremely uncoordinated and foolish. She tucks her PokeNav back into her purse with the hand that's not still holding onto a concealed Pokeball, and approaches a kind-looking older man who's selling fruit.

"Excuse me, Sir, but do you know how to get to the convention center from here?" she asks, waving a bit to get his attention.

The elderly man looks at her and looks her up and down. Even though he's probably just looking at her outfit and wondering why she's dressed so fancy, May is still so used to feeling like she's being eyed up like a piece of meat that the gaze unsettles her and she stiffens. The old man smiles kindly at her. "Why, dear, you look nice," he says in a kind, gravelly voice. Once again, the compliment sets off a cautious nerve in her and she takes a small step back.

"Thank you. So, the convention center...?"

"Oh, yes. It's right over there," he says, turning and pointing at a tall building that's back behind what looks to be apartment complexes. "That tall building right there." It still looks horribly far away.

"And how would I go about getting there?" she asks, biting her lip again. Her head swims. She'll never make it in time.

"Just continue on this street and go left when you reach the Pokemon Center," he says kindly.

"Thanks," May mutters, going to hurry on past him. It's going to take _ages._

"Oh, wait! Young lady? If you're in a hurry, you can cut down that street right there, and it'll get you there much faster. I'm not sure if I would want to go down there alone, though, especially dressed the way you are. Be careful, please!"

The last sentence sounds far away because May has already taken off, ignoring the aching in her feet and the unsteady warning feeling coming from her heels. She hopes and prays to Arceus that the heels won't break, at least not before she reaches the convention center.

The man's words replay over and over again in her head, even as she's turning onto the street and understanding why he warned her. The voice in the back of her head is screaming at her that she's an idiot and asking why she would ever do this. She knew from experience what happened to girls who walked alone on dark, abandoned streets. She knew better than this.

But she had to get to Steven in time. She had to prove to him that she was able to do things like this on her own; she could be independent again. She couldn't let being raped control the rest of her life forever. If she had to live every day in the shadows, hiding and letting her fear control her, then why was she even living? She had to show Steven that she was growing out of this, and that although she may never heal completely, she was getting there.

Most of all, she had to prove it to herself.

Her hand had healed, and though sometimes it hurt to curl her fingers and May wasn't sure if she still had aching bones or if her mind was trying to remind her of the ghost of pain, she knew that she would someday forget about the broken bone altogether. The scar on her forehead would be there for many more years, but she continued to let her hair fall over it and no longer protested when Steven swept the hair aside and pressed his lips lightly onto the scar. It would be gone, eventually. It would heal.

Some scars would never go away, though.

May knew that she would never fully recover from the incident. She would always be nervous to be out by herself at night. She would always jump at small touches. She would always have an aching in her stomach when around a drunk person and she would always feel sick whenever she sees blood. But even though it would always be there, May decides that it needs to be background noise. It can't be the main focal point in her life.

She's spent the last year recovering. She's learned again what it means to have a Pokemon battle, and how amazing it can be. She's learned that her Pokemon will always be there for her. In the heat of battle, there's nowhere that they'd rather be.

She's learned that her Championship wasn't the ending of her life. Although it was hard to dodge the reporters of Hoenn who wanted to know where she had disappeared to for weeks, confirming for them that she and Steven were officially an item was enough for them to leave her alone and instead fill theirs news reports with more gossip than fact. And when they got to Sinnoh, hardly anybody recognized her. In fact, more people knew Steven Stone, the dreamboat rock collector.

She's also learned that it's hard for people to love you until you let them. Steven admitted to her that he had had feelings for her for years, but that it took a lot for him to come to terms with them. May realizes that that was the case for her, too. She realizes why it felt like such a personal injury when Steven had left her to go travel in Kanto without saying goodbye. She knew why she turned to Steven when she was vulnerable and weak. She knew why being with Steven was always going to be the one place she felt at home.

May hurries down the street. The sun is setting, and May curses winter for its short daylight hours. The flickering streetlights start to come to life. May can see the convention center getting closer. She can start to see the crowd of people and news reporters stationed outside in line, and May is thankful that she's on the VIP list and will get to skip that stage of waiting. Crowds are still a terrifying challenge for her.

Behind her, she hears footsteps. She forces herself to keep sprinting and not to look back, despite the feeling of her heart stopping in her chest.

"Wow! Hey, beautiful! Don't you look gorgeous tonight?"

The catcalling makes her fumble a bit, and she just barely catches herself without falling. She stops for half a second, then continues on, walking as fast as she can.

"Oh, don't be like that, gorgeous! Hey, why don't you come with me? Let me buy you a drink!"

May continues walking. She isn't sure how close the man is behind her. The convention center is so close...

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Why don't you smile?"

May stops in her tracks and whirls around, seeming to shock the boy standing just a few feet behind her. She calls him a boy because he doesn't look old enough to be called a "man." He can't be much older than May herself; he's probably a college student at the nearby university.

May takes a deep breath.

"My name is not, _'Hey,'_ and my name is not, _'Beautiful,'_ and my name is not, _'Gorgeous.'_ So you don't get to call me that," May hisses out between clenched teeth. Her hand tightens around the Pokeball in her purse.

The boy laughs, shrugging. "Wow, you're a feisty one, aren't you? Come on, come with me, let's go get drinks!"

May grinds her teeth so hard it hurts. "I don't get drinks with immature kids who think it's cool to catcall women on the street."

The boy's lighthearted mood disappears and he seems to be starting to get angry. He takes a step forward, and that's his third strike. May whips the Pokeball out of her purse and in a second, Mightyena has materialized and is at her feet, growling viciously.

The boy's eyes widen and he raises his hands slowly. "Alright, I don't want any trouble..."

"You asked for trouble the second you opened your mouth. Mightyena, get him."

What follows is a few seconds of the boy running for his life and Mightyena snapping at his heels, snarling. When the boy is out of eyeshot, Mightyena returns to May. Alone with May and content that the threat is gone, the dog Pokemon returns to a puppy-like state, wagging its tail and looking up at May with its tongue hanging out. She smiles at it, and it tilts its head and gets a look of worry in its eyes, as if to ask, _Are you going to be okay?_

May smiles again and scratches Mightyena's head. She sighs happily when the dog Pokemon leans its face into her leg. She looks out at the convention center, then out at the setting sun. This didn't turn out too badly.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to be okay."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, well, I really hope that you enjoyed it! It's been a wild journey from start to finish. Thank you all for your continued support. I love everybody who's reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to this story. Extra love to the reviewers, though, because it is an amazing feeling to know that somebody has read and enjoyed your writing enough to take the time to tell you what they thought of it. So, if you've been silently reading this whole time, I'd really appreciate knowing what you thought of the fic! Even if it's just one sentence or one _word,_ every bit of feedback means so much to me and is really what keeps me going. **

**Let me know what you guys want to see from me in the future! I'm working on another chaptered Steven/May fic and also a oneshot Steven/May fic, which you can find more information about on my profile. There will also be a Christmas fic for them up on Thursday! Check that out, if you're interested. I'm also contemplating writing some more N/White. Tell me in the comments what you guys would like to see! Pairings, fic ideas, whatever. If you want to read any of my future writing, add me to your author alerts or check back on my profile soon! **

**And again, thank you all for reading! **


End file.
